Formation of parallel four-stranded complexes by guanine-rich motifs in DNA and its implications for meiosis (original) (raw)

Nature volume 334, pages 364–366 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

We have discovered that single-stranded DNA containing short guanine-rich motifs will self-associate at physiological salt concentrations to make four-stranded structures in which the strands run in parallel fashion. We believe these complexes are held together by guanines bonded to each other by Hoogsteen pairing. Such guanine-rich sequences occur in immunoglobulin switch regions1, in gene promoters2,3, and in chromosomal telomeres4. We speculate that this self-recognition of guanine-rich motifs of DNA serves to bring together, and to zipper up in register, the four homologous chromatids during meiosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA
    Dipankar Sen & Walter Gilbert

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  1. Dipankar Sen
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  2. Walter Gilbert
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Sen, D., Gilbert, W. Formation of parallel four-stranded complexes by guanine-rich motifs in DNA and its implications for meiosis.Nature 334, 364–366 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/334364a0

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