Telomeres are protein DNA complexes found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. The human telomere sequence has a G-rich strand, (TTAGGG), complemented to a C-rich strand, (CCCTAA).  Previous studies of the G-rich strand indicate that this sequence folds into a distinct conformation, designated as a G quadruplex.  The C-rich strand has also been shown to form an unusual structure, under slightly acidic conditions, designated as the i-motif. We are investigating the structure and stability of the conformations formed from (CCCXXX)4, where X = A and /or T, in the presence of K+ at pH values ranging from 5.0 to 7.0 to determine sequence context effects on the pH required to assume the i-motif and the stability of the resultant structure. We will present circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopic determinations to demonstrate the pH induced formation of the i-motif for these sequences.

Structural and thermodynamic studies of the i-motif of DNA: Sequence context effects

247th National Meeting (2014)

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