G4 motifs in human genes

The G4 motif, G≥3NxG≥3NxG≥3NxG≥3, is enriched in some genomic regions and depleted in others. This motif confers the ability to form an unusual four‐stranded DNA structure, G4 DNA. G4 DNA is associated with genomic instability, which may explain depletion of G4 motifs from some genes and genomic reg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2012-09, Vol.1267 (1), p.53-60
Main Author: Maizels, Nancy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Base Sequence
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA Replication
DNA, Single-Stranded
G-quadruplex
Genes
Genome, Human
Genomes
Genomic Instability
Humans
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutagenesis
Mutation
Nucleic Acid Conformation
Polymorphism, Genetic
Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
repeat
replication
transcription
Transcription, Genetic
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Summary:The G4 motif, G≥3NxG≥3NxG≥3NxG≥3, is enriched in some genomic regions and depleted in others. This motif confers the ability to form an unusual four‐stranded DNA structure, G4 DNA. G4 DNA is associated with genomic instability, which may explain depletion of G4 motifs from some genes and genomic regions. Conversely, G4 motifs are enriched downstream of transcription start sites, where they correlate with pausing. The uneven distribution of G4 motifs in the genome strongly suggests that mechanisms of selection act not only on one‐dimensional genomic sequence, but also on structures formed by genomic DNA. The biological roles of G4 structures illustrate that, to understand genome function, it is important to consider the dynamic structural potential implicit in the G4 motif.
ISSN:0077-8923
1749-6632
DOI:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06586.x