A sodium-potassium switch in the formation of four-stranded G4-DNA |
| |
Authors: | D Sen W Gilbert |
| |
Institution: | Department of Cellular and Development Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. |
| |
Abstract: | Single-stranded complex guanine-rich DNA sequences from chromosomal telomeres and elsewhere can associate to form stable parallel four-stranded structures termed G4-DNA by a process that is anomalously dependent on the particular alkali metal cation that is present. The anomaly, which is not found in the formation of G4-DNA by oligonucleotides containing short, single runs of three or more guanines, is caused by potassium cations excessively stabilizing fold-back intermediate structures, or pathway by-products. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|