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.
Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
Gargi
G
Ghosal
K
K
Muniyappa
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