Hoogsteen base-pairing revisited: resolving a role in normal biological processes and human diseases.
For a long time since the discovery of an alternative type of hydrogen bonding between adenine and thymidine, termed Hoogsteen base-pairing, its biological role remained elusive. Recent experiments provide compelling evidence that Hoogsteen base pairs manifest in a gamut of nuclear processes encompassing gene expression, replication, recombination, and telomere length maintenance. An increasing number of proteins that have been shown to bind, unwind or cleave G-quadruplexes or triplexes with high specificity underscore their biological significance. In humans, the absence of these cellular factors or their dysfunction leads to a wide spectrum of genetic diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative syndromes, and a myriad of other disorders. Thus, development of clinically useful compounds that target G-quadruplexes or triplexes, and interfere with specific cellular processes, provides considerable promise for successful and improved treatment of human diseases.
Ghosal
Gargi
G
Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
Muniyappa
K
K
D000225:Adenine / Q000737:chemistry; D020029:Base Pairing; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004261:DNA Replication; D054856:G-Quadruplexes; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D030342:Genetic Diseases, Inborn / Q000235:genetics*; D006147:Guanine / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013936:Thymidine / Q000737:chemistry
D006147:Guanine; D004247:DNA; D000225:Adenine; D013936:Thymidine