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Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties

G-quadruplexes constitute an important type of nucleic acid structure, which can be found in living cells and applied by cell machinery as pivotal regulatory elements. Importantly, robust development of SELEX technology and modern, nucleic acid-based therapeutic strategies targeted towards various m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kotkowiak, Weronika, Pasternak, Anna
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8466185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34576112
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms22189948
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author Kotkowiak, Weronika
Pasternak, Anna
author_facet Kotkowiak, Weronika
Pasternak, Anna
author_sort Kotkowiak, Weronika
collection PubMed
description G-quadruplexes constitute an important type of nucleic acid structure, which can be found in living cells and applied by cell machinery as pivotal regulatory elements. Importantly, robust development of SELEX technology and modern, nucleic acid-based therapeutic strategies targeted towards various molecules have also revealed a large group of potent aptamers whose structures are grounded in G-quadruplexes. In this review, we analyze further extension of tetraplexes by additional structural elements and investigate whether G-quadruplex junctions with duplex, hairpin, triplex, or second G-quadruplex motifs are favorable for aptamers stability and biological activity. Furthermore, we indicate the specific and pivotal role of the G-quadruplex domain and the additional structural elements in interactions with target molecules. Finally, we consider the potency of G-quadruplex junctions in future applications and indicate the emerging research area that is still waiting for development to obtain highly specific and effective nucleic acid-based molecular tools.
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spelling pubmed-84661852021-09-27 Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties Kotkowiak, Weronika Pasternak, Anna Int J Mol Sci Review G-quadruplexes constitute an important type of nucleic acid structure, which can be found in living cells and applied by cell machinery as pivotal regulatory elements. Importantly, robust development of SELEX technology and modern, nucleic acid-based therapeutic strategies targeted towards various molecules have also revealed a large group of potent aptamers whose structures are grounded in G-quadruplexes. In this review, we analyze further extension of tetraplexes by additional structural elements and investigate whether G-quadruplex junctions with duplex, hairpin, triplex, or second G-quadruplex motifs are favorable for aptamers stability and biological activity. Furthermore, we indicate the specific and pivotal role of the G-quadruplex domain and the additional structural elements in interactions with target molecules. Finally, we consider the potency of G-quadruplex junctions in future applications and indicate the emerging research area that is still waiting for development to obtain highly specific and effective nucleic acid-based molecular tools. MDPI 2021-09-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8466185/ /pubmed/34576112 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms22189948 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Kotkowiak, Weronika
Pasternak, Anna
Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties
title Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties
title_full Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties
title_fullStr Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties
title_full_unstemmed Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties
title_short Beyond G-Quadruplexes—The Effect of Junction with Additional Structural Motifs on Aptamers Properties
title_sort beyond g-quadruplexes—the effect of junction with additional structural motifs on aptamers properties
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8466185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34576112
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms22189948
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