In recent years, intercalated motifs (i-motifs) have attracted more attention due to the recognition of their biological functions in human cells. Traditionally, i-motifs have been studied using highly expensive and complicated nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism spectrometers. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using less expensive and less complicated capillary electrophoresis (CE) as an alternative for i-motif related research. The authors tested two DNA and two RNA i-motifs under different pH conditions using CE. Our results demonstrate that CE is able to identify and differentiate mostly folded, partially folded, and mostly unfolded DNA and RNA i-motifs through changes in peak shape and migration time, thus providing a new method to study i-motif conformation, and interactions between i-motifs and their ligands.

Capillary electrophoresis provides a new avenue to observe i-motif formation

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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