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A sodium-potassium switch in the formation of four-stranded G4-DNA

Nature volume 344, pages 410–414 (1990)Cite this article

Abstract

Single-stranded complex guanine-rich DNA sequences from chromosomal telomeres and else-where 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 intermedi-ate structures, or pathway by-products.

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  1. Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    Dipankar Sen & Walter Gilbert

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  1. Dipankar Sen
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  2. Walter Gilbert
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Sen, D., Gilbert, W. A sodium-potassium switch in the formation of four-stranded G4-DNA. Nature 344, 410–414 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/344410a0

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