Imperial College London, Chemistry Department, Molecular Science Research Hub, 80 Wood Lane, W12 0BZ, London, UK.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2020 Jan 28;56(9):1317-1324. doi: 10.1039/c9cc09107f. Epub 2020 Jan 6.
G-quadruplexes are nucleic acids secondary structures that can be formed in guanine-rich sequences. More than 30 years ago, their formation was first observed in telomeric DNA. Since then, a number of other sequences capable of forming G-quadruplex structures have been described and increasing evidence supporting their formation in the context of living cells has been accumulated. To fully underpin the biological significance of G-quadruplexes and their potential as therapeutic targets, several chemical-biology tools and methods have been developed to map and visualise these nucleic acids secondary structures in human cells. In this review, we critically present the most relevant methods developed to investigate G-quadruplex prevalence in human cells and to study their biological functions, presenting the next key chemical-biology challenges that need to be addressed to fully unravel G-quadruplex mediated biology and their therapeutic potential.
四链体是一种可以在富含鸟嘌呤的序列中形成的核酸二级结构。三十多年前，人们首次在端粒 DNA 中观察到了它们的形成。从那时起，已经描述了许多其他能够形成四链体结构的序列，并积累了越来越多的证据支持它们在活细胞中的形成。为了充分支持四链体的生物学意义及其作为治疗靶点的潜力，已经开发了几种化学生物学工具和方法来绘制和可视化人类细胞中的这些核酸二级结构。在这篇综述中，我们批判性地介绍了为研究人类细胞中四链体的普遍性和研究其生物学功能而开发的最相关方法，并提出了需要解决的下一个关键化学生物学挑战，以充分揭示四链体介导的生物学及其治疗潜力。
