title: Formation of a hairpin structure by telomere 3' overhang.
abstract: The telomeres of most eukaryotes contain tandemly-repeated DNA sequences, with a cluster of G residues on one strand. Recent studies showed that the Oxytricha telomeric DNA oligonucleotide, d(G4T4G4), dimerizes to form a quadruplex in the presence of Na+ or K+. We have observed that the oligonucleotide d(G4T4G4) does not dimerize in the presence of Li+ ion at low sample concentrations. In the monomeric state, this molecule forms a simple foldback hairpin structure containing G x G reverse Hoogsteen basepairs in the stem region. This hairpin structure has a thermal stability which is well reconciled with telomere functions in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yusung-gu Taejon, South Korea.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016813:Oxytricha / Q000235:genetics*; D016615:Telomere / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases; C056773:telomere terminal transferase