Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK.
Trends Biotechnol. 2017 Oct;35(10):997-1013. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.06.012. Epub 2017 Jul 26.
Guanine (G)-rich sequences in nucleic acids can assemble into G-quadruplex structures that involve G-quartets linked by loop nucleotides. The structural and topological diversity of G-quadruplexes have attracted great attention for decades. Recent methodological advances have advanced the identification and characterization of G-quadruplexes in vivo as well as in vitro, and at a much higher resolution and throughput, which has greatly expanded our current understanding of G-quadruplex structure and function. Accumulating knowledge about the structural properties of G-quadruplexes has helped to design and develop a repertoire of molecular and chemical tools for biological applications. This review highlights how these exciting methods and findings have opened new doors to investigate the potential functions and applications of G-quadruplexes in basic and applied biosciences.
在核酸中，富含鸟嘌呤（G）的序列可以组装成涉及由环核苷酸连接的 G-四联体的 G-四联体结构。G-四联体的结构和拓扑多样性引起了人们几十年来的极大关注。最近的方法学进展提高了体内和体外 G-四联体的鉴定和表征的分辨率和通量，这极大地扩展了我们对 G-四联体结构和功能的现有认识。关于 G-四联体结构特性的知识积累有助于设计和开发一系列用于生物应用的分子和化学工具。这篇综述强调了这些令人兴奋的方法和发现如何为研究 G-四联体在基础和应用生物科学中的潜在功能和应用开辟了新的途径。
