Understanding the conformational polymorphism of nucleic acids using fluorescent base analogues

Abstract

The formation of G-quadruplex (GQ), a non-canonical nucleic acid secondary structure, can inhibit the elevated telomerase activity that is common in most cancers. The global structure and the thermal stability of the GQs are usually evaluated by spectroscopic methods and thermal denaturation properties. However, most of the biochemical processes involving GQs involve local conformational changes of GQs at the guanine tetrad (G4) level. These local conformational changes of individual G4 layers during protein and drug interactions have not yet been explored in detail because the spectroscopic signals of these layers are concealed in the total signal of GQ.