Involvement of Long‐Lived Intermediate States in the Complex Folding Pathway of the Human Telomeric G‐Quadruplex1. Issue 29 (2nd June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bessi, Irene; Jonker, Hendrik R. A.; Richter, Christian; Schwalbe, Harald
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 54:Issue 29(2015)
• Page Start: 8444
• Page End: 8448
• Publication Date: 2015-06-02
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201502286
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>The energy landscapes of human telomeric G‐quadruplexes are complex, and their folding pathways have remained largely unexplored. By using real‐time NMR spectroscopy, we investigated the K⁺‐induced folding of the human telomeric DNA sequence 5′‐TTGGG(TTAGGG)₃A‐3′. Three long‐lived states were detected during folding: a major conformation (hybrid‐1), a previously structurally uncharacterized minor conformation (hybrid‐2), and a partially unfolded state. The minor hybrid‐2 conformation is formed faster than the more stable hybrid‐1 conformation. Equilibration of the two states is slow and proceeds via a partially unfolded intermediate state, which can be described as an ensemble of hairpin‐like structures.</p> </abstract>