Shi Lili, Peng Pai, Du Yi, Li Tao
Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2017 May 5;45(8):4306-4314. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkx202.
Four-stranded DNAs including G-quadruplexes and i-motifs are formed from four stretches of identical bases (G or C). A challenge remains in controlling the intermolecular folding of different G-rich or C-rich strands due to the self-association of each component. Here, we introduce a well-designed bimolecular i-motif that does not allow the dimerization of the same strand, and illustrate its usefulness in a pH-switched ATP-sensing DNA molecular device. We analyze two groups of i-motif DNAs containing two stretches of different C-residues (Cn-1TmCn and CnTmCn-1; n = 3-6, m = 1, 3) and show that their bimolecular folding patterns (L- and H-form) noticeably differs in the thermal stability. The L-form structures generally display a relatively low stability, with a bigger difference from that of conventional i-motifs formed by CnTmCn. It inspires us to at utmost improving the structural stability by extending the core of L-form bimolecular i-motifs with a few flanking noncanonical base pairs, and therefore to avoid the dimeric association of each component. This meaningful bimolecular i-motif is then incorporated into a three-way junction (3WJ) and a four-way junction (4WJ) functionalized with two components of a ATP-binding split DNA aptamer, allowing the pH-triggered directional assembly of 3WJ and 4WJ into the desired (3+4)WJ structure that is verified by gel electrophoresis. It therefore enables the ATP-induced association of the split aptamer within the (3+4)WJ structure, as monitored by fluorescence quenching. In this way, the designed DNA system behaves as a pH-switched reversible molecular device, showing a high sensitivity and selectivity for fluorescent ATP analysis. The i-motif folding topology-programmed DNA nanoassembly may find more applications in the context of larger 2D/3D DNA nanostructures like lattices and polyhedra.
包括G-四链体和i-基序在内的四链DNA由四段相同的碱基(G或C)形成。由于每个组分的自缔合,在控制不同富含G或富含C的链的分子间折叠方面仍然存在挑战。在此,我们引入了一种精心设计的双分子i-基序,它不允许同一条链二聚化,并说明了其在pH开关ATP传感DNA分子装置中的用途。我们分析了两组包含两段不同C残基的i-基序DNA(Cn-1TmCn和CnTmCn-1;n = 3-6,m = 1,3),并表明它们的双分子折叠模式(L型和H型)在热稳定性上有明显差异。L型结构通常显示出相对较低的稳定性,与由CnTmCn形成的传统i-基序有较大差异。这促使我们通过用一些侧翼非规范碱基对扩展L型双分子i-基序的核心来最大限度地提高结构稳定性,从而避免每个组分的二聚体缔合。然后将这种有意义的双分子i-基序整合到用ATP结合分裂DNA适配体的两个组分功能化的三向接头(3WJ)和四向接头(4WJ)中,允许pH触发3WJ和4WJ定向组装成所需的(3+4)WJ结构,这通过凝胶电泳得到验证。因此,它能够使分裂适配体在(3+4)WJ结构内发生ATP诱导的缔合,通过荧光猝灭进行监测。通过这种方式,所设计的DNA系统表现为一种pH开关可逆分子装置,对荧光ATP分析显示出高灵敏度和选择性。i-基序折叠拓扑编程的DNA纳米组装可能在更大的二维/三维DNA纳米结构如晶格和多面体的背景下找到更多应用。