Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, 101 Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Washington Rd., Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Nat Rev Genet. 2012 Nov;13(11):770-80. doi: 10.1038/nrg3296. Epub 2012 Oct 3.
In addition to the canonical double helix, DNA can fold into various other inter- and intramolecular secondary structures. Although many such structures were long thought to be in vitro artefacts, bioinformatics demonstrates that DNA sequences capable of forming these structures are conserved throughout evolution, suggesting the existence of non-B-form DNA in vivo. In addition, genes whose products promote formation or resolution of these structures are found in diverse organisms, and a growing body of work suggests that the resolution of DNA secondary structures is critical for genome integrity. This Review focuses on emerging evidence relating to the characteristics of G-quadruplex structures and the possible influence of such structures on genomic stability and cellular processes, such as transcription.
除了典型的双螺旋结构外,DNA 还可以折叠成各种其他的分子内和分子间的二级结构。尽管许多这样的结构长期以来被认为是体外的人为产物,但生物信息学表明,能够形成这些结构的 DNA 序列在进化过程中是保守的,这表明体内存在非 B 型 DNA。此外,其产物能够促进这些结构形成或解决的基因在各种生物中都有发现,越来越多的研究表明,DNA 二级结构的解决对于基因组的完整性至关重要。这篇综述主要关注与 G-四链体结构的特征以及这些结构对基因组稳定性和细胞过程(如转录)可能产生的影响有关的新证据。