title: Four-stranded nucleic acid structures 25 years later: from guanosine gels to telomer DNA.
abstract: The subject of four-stranded nucleic acid structures is reviewed. Studies on gels formed by guanosine and its analogues have provided appropriate models for the structures of poly(I) and poly(G). The stabilizing influence of certain cations, in particular K+, on Guo-5'-P gels and poly(I) is discussed in the light of recent data on selective K+ stabilization of telomeric DNA structures. The topological possibilities these dG containing sequences could adopt are discussed. In particular the role of the glycosidic linkage (anti/syn), the polarity of the strands and the orientation of the G-tetrad stacks is highlighted.
authors.affiliation: Départment de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Centre d'Etudes Nucléaires de Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guschlbauer
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Chantot
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thiele
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels; D006151:Guanosine / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011068:Poly G / Q000737:chemistry; D011069:Poly I / Q000737:chemistry; D011119:Polynucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D011188:Potassium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D011119:Polynucleotides; D006151:Guanosine; D011068:Poly G; D011069:Poly I; D004247:DNA; D011188:Potassium