G-quadruplexes and helicases |
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| Authors: | Oscar Mendoza Anne Bourdoncle Jean-Baptiste Boulé Robert M Brosh Jr Jean-Louis Mergny |
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| Institution: | 1.University of Bordeaux, ARNA Laboratory F-33000 Bordeaux, France;2.INSERM U1212,CNRS UMR 5320, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France;3.CNRS UMR 7196, INSERM U1154, MNHN, F-75005 Paris, France;4.Sorbonne Universités, F-75005 Paris, France;5.Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA |
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| Abstract: | Guanine-rich DNA strands can fold in vitro into non-canonical DNA structures called G-quadruplexes. These structures may be very stable under physiological conditions. Evidence suggests that G-quadruplex structures may act as ‘knots’ within genomic DNA, and it has been hypothesized that proteins may have evolved to remove these structures. The first indication of how G-quadruplex structures could be unfolded enzymatically came in the late 1990s with reports that some well-known duplex DNA helicases resolved these structures in vitro. Since then, the number of studies reporting G-quadruplex DNA unfolding by helicase enzymes has rapidly increased. The present review aims to present a general overview of the helicase/G-quadruplex field. |
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