title: Nucleic Acid i-Motif Structures in Analytical Chemistry.
abstract: Under the appropriate experimental conditions of pH and temperature, cytosine-rich segments in DNA or RNA sequences may produce a characteristic folded structure known as an i-motif. Besides its potential role in vivo, which is still under investigation, this structure has attracted increasing interest in other fields due to its sharp, fast and reversible pH-driven conformational changes. This "on/off" switch at molecular level is being used in nanotechnology and analytical chemistry to develop nanomachines and sensors, respectively. This paper presents a review of the latest applications of this structure in the field of chemical analysis.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Analytical Chemistry , University of Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Joan Josep
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Alba
authors.affiliation: a Department of Analytical Chemistry , University of Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sadurní
authors.affiliation: a Department of Analytical Chemistry , University of Barcelona , Barcelona , Spain.
authors.forename: Raimundo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gargallo
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs; D012313:RNA / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA
keywords: Bioanalytical; DNA; electrochemistry; i-motif; spectroscopy