New insight into G-quadruplexes; diagnosis application in cancer

Anal Biochem. 2021 May 1:620:114149. doi: 10.1016/j.ab.2021.114149. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Abstract

Biochemical properties and flexibility of nitrogenous bases allow DNA to fold into higher-order structures. Among different DNA secondary structure, G-quadruplexes (tetrapelexes-G4) - which are formed in guanine rich sequences - have gained more attention because of their biological significance, therapeutic intervention, and application in molecular device and biosensor. G4-quadruplex studies categorize into three main fields, in vivo, in vitro, and in silico. The in vitro field includes G4 synthetic oligonucleotides. This review focuses on the G-quadruplex synthetic aptamers structure features and considers the applicability of G4-aptamers for cancer biomarkers detection. Various biosensing methods will be reviewed based on G-quadruplex aptamers for cancer detection.

Keywords: Cancer diagnosis; DNA aptamer; Electrochemical; G-quadruplexes; Optical sensor.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / analysis*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / analysis*
  • DNA, Neoplasm / chemistry*
  • G-Quadruplexes
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / chemistry
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis*

Substances

  • Aptamers, Nucleotide
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • DNA, Neoplasm