Abstract
Advances in understanding mechanisms of nucleic acids have revolutionized molecular biology and medicine, but understanding of nontraditional nucleic acid conformations is less developed. The guanine quadruplex (G4) alternative DNA structure was first described in the 1960s, but the existence of G4 structures (G4-S) and their participation in myriads of biological functions are still underappreciated. Despite many tools to study G4s and many examples of roles for G4s in eukaryotic molecular processes and issues with uncontrolled G4-S formation, there is relatively little knowledge about the roles of G4-S in viral or prokaryotic systems. This review summarizes the state of the art with regard to G4-S in eukaryotes and their potential roles in human disease before discussing the evidence that G4-S have equivalent importance in affecting viral and bacterial life.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 49-69 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Annual Review of Microbiology |
| Volume | 72 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 8 2018 |
Funding
I would like to acknowledge all the laboratories that have contributed to the rich literature around the biological implications of G4-S and apologize for not being able to cite all of the relevant literature. I call out the efforts of Laty Cahoon who spearheaded G4-S work in my laboratory. Comments on the manuscript by Lauren Priniski and Laty Cahoon are appreciated. Donation of drawings for Figure 1 by Nancy Maizels is greatly appreciated. I was partially supported by NIH grant R37-AI033403.
Keywords
- DNA replication
- bacteria
- gene expression
- nucleic acid structures
- viruses
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology
