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Publication Abstract from PubMed

A guanine-rich oligonucleotide based on a human telomeric sequence but with the first three-nucleotide intervening stretch replaced by a putative 15-nucleotide hairpin-forming sequence shows a pH-dependent folding into different quadruplex-duplex hybrids in a potassium containing buffer. At slightly acidic pH, the quadruplex domain adopts a chair-type conformation. Upon increasing the pH, a transition with a midpoint close to neutral pH to a major and minor (3+1) hybrid topology with either a coaxially stacked or orthogonally oriented duplex stem-loop occurs. NMR-derived high-resolution structures reveal that an adenine protonation is prerequisite for the formation of a non-canonical base quartet, capping the outer G-tetrad at the quadruplex-duplex interface and stabilizing the antiparallel chair conformation in an acidic environment. Being directly associated with interactions at the quadruplex-duplex interface, this unique pH-dependent topological transition is fully reversible. Coupled with a conformation-sensitive optical readout demonstrated as a proof of concept using the fluorescent dye thiazole orange, the present quadruplex-duplex hybrid architecture represents a potentially valuable pH-sensing system responsive in a physiological pH range of 7+/-1.

A pH-Responsive Topological Switch Based on a DNA Quadruplex-Duplex Hybrid.,Vianney YM, Jana J, Weisz K Chemistry. 2024 May 23;30(29):e202400722. doi: 10.1002/chem.202400722. Epub 2024 , Apr 9. PMID:38497675^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.