Sen D, Gilbert W
Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.
Nature. 1988 Jul 28;334(6180):364-6. doi: 10.1038/334364a0.
We have discovered that single-stranded DNA containing short guanine-rich motifs will self-associate at physiological salt concentrations to make four-stranded structures in which the strands run in parallel fashion. We believe these complexes are held together by guanines bonded to each other by Hoogsteen pairing. Such guanine-rich sequences occur in immunoglobulin switch regions, in gene promoters, and in chromosomal telomeres. We speculate that this self-recognition of guanine-rich motifs of DNA serves to bring together, and to zipper up in register, the four homologous chromatids during meiosis.
我们发现，含有短的富含鸟嘌呤基序的单链DNA在生理盐浓度下会自我缔合，形成链以平行方式排列的四链结构。我们认为这些复合物是通过Hoogsteen配对相互结合的鸟嘌呤维系在一起的。这种富含鸟嘌呤的序列存在于免疫球蛋白转换区、基因启动子和染色体端粒中。我们推测，DNA中富含鸟嘌呤基序的这种自我识别作用有助于在减数分裂过程中将四条同源染色单体聚集在一起并对齐排列。
