König Sebastian L B, Evans Amanda C, Huppert Julian L
Biomol Concepts. 2010 Aug 1;1(2):197-213. doi: 10.1515/bmc.2010.011.
The helical duplex architecture of DNA was discovered by Francis Crick and James Watson in 1951 and is well known and understood. However, nucleic acids can also adopt alternative structural conformations that are less familiar, although no less biologically relevant, such as the G-quadruplex. G-quadruplexes continue to be the subject of a rapidly expanding area of research, owing to their significant potential as therapeutic targets and their unique biophysical properties. This review begins by focusing on G-quadruplex structure, elucidating the intermolecular and intramolecular interactions underlying its formation and highlighting several substructural variants. A variety of methods used to characterize these structures are also outlined. The current state of G-quadruplex research is then addressed by proffering seven pertinent questions for discussion. This review concludes with an overview of possible directions for future research trajectories in this exciting and relevant field.
DNA的螺旋双链结构由弗朗西斯·克里克和詹姆斯·沃森于1951年发现，如今已广为人知且被深入理解。然而，核酸也可以呈现出其他不太常见但同样具有生物学相关性的结构构象，比如G-四链体。由于G-四链体作为治疗靶点的巨大潜力及其独特的生物物理特性，它仍然是一个快速发展的研究领域的主题。本综述首先聚焦于G-四链体结构，阐明其形成背后的分子间和分子内相互作用，并突出几种亚结构变体。还概述了用于表征这些结构的各种方法。然后通过提出七个相关问题进行讨论，阐述了G-四链体研究的现状。本综述最后概述了这个令人兴奋且相关领域未来研究轨迹的可能方向。
