title: State-of-the-art methodologies for the discovery and characterization of DNA G-quadruplex binders.
abstract: Nowadays, the molecular basis of interaction between low molecular weight compounds and biological macromolecules is the subject of numerous investigations aimed at the rational design of molecules with specific therapeutic applications. In the last decades, it has been demonstrated that DNA quadruplexes play a critical role in several biological processes both at telomeric and gene promoting levels thus providing a great stride in the discovery of ligands able to interact with such a biologically relevant DNA conformation. So far, a number of experimental and computational approaches have been successfully employed in order to identify new ligands and to characterize their binding to the DNA. The main focus of this review is the description of these methodologies, placing a particular emphasis on computational methods, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), mass spectrometry (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopies.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Chimica delle Sostanze Naturali, Universita di Napoli,Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pagano
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cosconati
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gabelica
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petraccone
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Tito
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: La Pietra
authors.forename: Francesco Saverio
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: di Leva
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lauri
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trotta
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Novellino
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giancola
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Randazzo
mesh_terms: D002151:Calorimetry; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D055808:Drug Discovery; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D054856:G-Quadruplexes; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands; D004247:DNA