Efficient procedure of preparation and properties of long uniform G4-DNA nanowires

Anal Biochem. 2008 Mar 1;374(1):71-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2007.10.017. Epub 2007 Oct 22.

Abstract

Here we describe a novel and efficient procedure for preparation of long uniform G4-DNA wires. The procedure includes (i) enzymatic synthesis of double-stranded DNA molecules consisting of long (up to 10,000 bases), continuous G strands and chains of complementary (dC)20-oligonucleotides, poly(dG)-n(dC)20; (ii) size exclusion HPLC separation of the G strands from the (dC)20 oligonucleotides in 0.1M NaOH; and (iii) folding of the purified G strands into G4-DNA structures by lowering the pH to 7.0. We show by atomic force microscopy (AFM) that the preparation procedure yielded G4-DNA wires with a uniform morphology and a narrow length distribution. The correlation between the total amount of nucleotides in the G strands and the contour length of the G4-DNA molecules estimated by AFM suggests monomolecular folding of the G strands into quadruplex structures. The folding takes place either in the presence or in the absence of stabilizing ions (K+ or Na+). The addition of these cations leads to a dramatic change in the circular dichroism spectrum of the G4-DNA.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • DNA Polymerase I / metabolism
  • DNA*
  • G-Quadruplexes*
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force
  • Nanowires*
  • Poly G / biosynthesis
  • Poly G / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Poly G
  • poly(dG)
  • DNA
  • DNA Polymerase I