Interactions Between Platinum-Intercalator Hybrid-Agents and The Human Telomeric G-Quadruplex

Telomeres are stretches of non-coding DNA sequences in complex with multifunctional proteins, which form the termini of the chromosomes in most eukaryotic organisms. Two important roles of the telomeres are to prevent chromosome end-to-end fusion and loss of genetic information. While the gradual (natural) erosion of the telomeric DNA in somatic cells has been implicated in the processes of aging and cell death, the telomeric DNA in tumor cells, ironically, is efficiently restored by upregulated telomerase, a mechanism rendering cancer cells immortal. The human telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of the guanine-rich sequence 5´-TTAGGG, which end in single-stranded 3´ overhangs that can fold into a non-duplex secondary DNA structure known as G-quadruplex. Because this form of DNA cannot be processed by telomerase, small molecules that induce and/or stabilize the G-quadruplex structure have potential applications in cancer chemotherapy.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Rao, Lu

• G-quadruplex

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/33437

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/33437