靶向G-四链体的小分子配体在癌症治疗中应用的研究进展

G-四链体是一类由Hoogsteen氢键维持稳定的,富含鸟嘌呤的DNA或RNA二级结构。人类基因组中存在大量潜在的形成G-四链体的序列,所形成的G-四链体结构能够调控基因组的稳定性、DNA复制和基因表达,其中包括很多与癌症相关基因。因此寻找能够诱导DNA的G富集区域形成G-四链体结构的配体,进而筛选潜在抗癌药物的先导化合物,已成为癌症治疗研究的热点之一。本文对近年来发现和设计的以G-四链体为靶点的小分子配体,按照靶向的G-四链体结构类型和配体的分子结构进行分类,综述了这类化合物在癌症治疗方面的研究进展,分析了相关靶向治疗存在的问题,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

核酸G-四链体的识别、复合物结构与细胞内探测的研究进展

富含鸟嘌呤的DNA或RNA序列可以折叠成非典型G-四链体二级结构. G-四链体结构丰富多样,在生物体内动态存在,参与了转录、复制、基因组稳定性和表观遗传调控等关键的基因组功能,与癌症生物学密切相关. G-四链体的结构与功能机制研究促进了以G-四链体为靶点的肿瘤治疗干预.本文综合评述了核酸G-四链体的特异性识别、细胞内探测及生物学功能的调控,总结了识别靶向G-四链体的小分子及复合物结构的研究进展,讨论了以G-四链体为靶点的靶向干预及疾病治疗的可能性,最后展望了G-四链体未来研究所面临的挑战与机遇.     

G-四链体的构型、热稳定性测试及其在钾离子定量检测中的应用

G-四链体是由具有连续鸟嘌呤(G)序列的DNA或RNA形成的一种特殊的核酸二级结构,由于有望形成G-四链体结构的序列广泛地分布于人类基因组的许多重要区域,有关G-四链体的研究已经成为国际上的一个研究热点。本文对G-四链体构型的多态性、G-四链体热稳定性的测试手段及G-四链体在K+定量检测方面的应用研究进行了简单的介绍和评述。     

人体端粒中(3+1)混合结构G-四链体稳定性的分子动力学模拟

利用分子动力学模拟方法, 考察了人体端粒中(3+1)混合结构G-四链体的结构及稳定性问题. 讨论了配位K+离子、药物分子(端粒抑素)和溶剂水分子对G-四链体的Hoogsteen氢键结构、π-π堆积作用的影响. 研究表明, K+离子与鸟嘌呤碱基上O6原子的配位作用减弱了对角鸟嘌呤间O6-O6的静电排斥作用, 使得相邻的四个鸟嘌呤能够以Hoogsteen氢键结合的方式形成具有近平面结构的稳定G-四平面. 另一方面, G-四平面间、G-四平面与药物分子间的π-π堆积作用降低了G-四链体复合物的总能, 有利于其稳定存在. 此外, 溶剂水分子主要分布在G-四链体的TTA环、骨架和糖环的周围, 使其位移涨落增大; 然而, 在3 ns动力学模拟中, 由于水分子没有进入到G-四链体的空腔中, 溶剂水对G-四平面的结构影响不明显.     

原癌基因c-myc启动区G-四链体结构及靶向小分子配体*

随着DNA G-四链体结构的发现和现代分子生物学技术对其与癌症关系的揭示,DNA G-四链体逐渐成为抗肿瘤药物研究的新靶点。c-myc启动区 G-四链体由于在细胞生长、增殖、凋亡、衰老及肿瘤形成等过程中的重要作用,成为DNA G-四链体中最受关注的序列之一。本文旨在对c-myc启动区 G-四链体的结构及靶向c-myc G-四链体的小分子配体的研究进展进行综述。首先,介绍c-myc G-四链体的生物学意义;其次,对几种常用的c-myc G-四链体的结构进行解析;最后,对以c-myc为靶点的小分子配体的研究进展及其与G-四链体的作用模式进行综述,并对目前以c-myc G-四链体为靶点、已经走向临床实验的CX-3543的开发与作用机制进行介绍。     

DNA G-四链体识别探针研究进展

G-四链体是一种由富含鸟嘌呤核酸序列形成的独特的二级结构,广泛分布于真核生物基因组,如端粒DNA、r DNA和一系列基因中的启动子区域。G-四链体结构对很多重要的生理过程如基因的转录、复制、重组以及保持染色体的稳定性方面具有重要作用。G-四链体的特异、高灵敏检测将为进一步了解G-四链体结构在人类细胞基因组中的分布、功能和机制奠定基础,也可能为靶向G-四链体的肿瘤治疗方法提供新的思路。因而过去几十年人们一直致力于开发设计具有高选择性和高灵敏度的G-四链体识别探针,这些探针已经广泛应用于溶液中G-四链体的识别,而且具有良好的选择性。目前也有少数探针能够直接用于检测活体G-四链体结构。本文综述了一些常见的靶向G-四链体的小分子配体,以及它们在染色体和活体细胞G-四链体检测中的应用。笔者希冀本文能为设计识别G-四链体的高性能探针,进一步实现活细胞内G-四链体的检测提供借鉴。     

异核苷G-四链DNA结构与活性的研究

富含鸟嘌呤的核酸序列能形成各种G-四链结构,G-四链结构具有重要的生物功能,在许多细胞内的事件如端粒DNA的保护和延长、复制、重组和转录等事件中有重要作用.一些以G-四链结构为靶点的小分子可抑制端粒酶的活性,使G-四链结构成为抗肿瘤药物设计的重要靶点.同时,某些特定序列的G-四链DNA具有抗肿瘤抗病毒等活性,如其中一个G-四链DNA T30923已经进入抗HIV-1 Ⅱ期临床研究.T30923的改进体T40214,即15聚体5′-(GGGC)4-3′,形成了一个对称而紧凑的分子内G-四链(图1),它的loop区因同时结合了两个K+而大大的增加了结构的稳定性[1].这种分子内的G-四链结构是体外抑制HIV整合酶以及抑制被感染细胞中HIV-1病毒的复制所必需的[2].为了增加T40214在体内的化学及酶稳定性,我们将异核苷分别掺入15聚体中[3],通过CD光谱、电泳等方法研究掺入异核苷的G-四链在结构和活性上的变化.     

Loop长度对G-四链体DNA识别和结合肿瘤细胞的能力的影响

G-四链体是由富含鸟嘌呤(G)的核酸通过π-π堆积形成的核酸二级结构。前期研究发现,G-四链体DNA对肿瘤细胞具有普遍识别和结合能力,且具有如抗肿瘤增殖等生物学活性,但G-四链体DNA的结构对其识别和结合肿瘤细胞的能力的影响还未见报道。本文采用圆二色光谱和凝胶电泳对不同连接环(loop)长度G-四链体DNA的结构和稳定性进行了研究,利用流式细胞术和激光共聚焦显微成像技术,研究了G-四链体DNA的连接环(loop)长度在其与肿瘤细胞结合中的作用。结果表明,loop长度越短的G-四链体DNA越易形成平行结构,识别和结合肿瘤细胞的能力越强,也更容易被细胞摄取;loop长度长的G-四链体DNA倾向于形成混合平行结构,这类G-四链体DNA识别和结合肿瘤细胞的能力较弱。     

利用对G-四链体环部的构型调节进行传感器的设计

对鸟嘌呤碱基G重复序列之间连接环结构对G-四链体形成的影响进行了研究。发现在连接环较长,DNA链不易形成G-四链体的情况下,可以通过将环序列设计成双链结构的方式促进G-四链体的重新形成。这就为传感器的设计提供了一个新途径,即可以利用目标分子对环部双链的调节作用控制G-四链体DNA酶的活性。为证明这一点,在双链区域引入T-T碱基错配,破坏双链结构使DNA链不能形成G-四链体。Hg2+对T-T错配的稳定作用可以促进双链结构的形成,DNA链重新折叠成G-四链体,得到的G-四链体与氯化血红素(Hemin)结合后形成具有过氧化物酶活性的G-四链体DNA酶,据此构建了Hg2+传感器。利用此传感器可在10~700 nmol/L范围内实现Hg2+的定量检测,检出限为8.7 nmol/L。在此基础上,利用半胱氨酸可以将Hg2+从T-Hg2+-T碱基对上竞争下来的能力,设计了一种半胱氨酸的检测方法。此方法可以在20~600 nmol/L范围内实现半胱氨酸的定量检测,检出限为14 nmol/L。     

金属离子诱导的G-四链体凝胶体系的基本性质研究

<正>核酸是生命体内最重要的生物分子之一，具有生物相容性和低毒性等特点，常被应用在生物医药等领域¹。鸟嘌呤(G)是DNA分子中的四种碱基之一，在人体端粒末端的DNA单链上，富含丰富的鸟嘌呤，使其能够形成G-四链体结构，该结构的稳定与端粒酶的活性有关，具有非常重要的生物学意义²。此外，小分子鸟嘌呤也可以通过超分子自组装形成G-四链体结构。该结构具有结构有序和性质可调控的特点，可作为模板用于功能材料的制备，应用于组织工程等领域³。     

Methods for investigating G-quadruplex DNA/ligand interactions

DNA is considered an important target for drug design and development. Until recently, the focus was on double-stranded (duplex) DNA structures. However, it has now been shown that single stranded DNA can fold into hairpin, triplex, i-motif and G-quadruplex structures. The more interesting G-quadruplex DNA structures comprise four strands of stacked guanine (G)-tetrads formed by the coplanar arrangement of four guanines, held together by Hoogsteen bonds. The DNA sequences with potential to form G-quadruplex structures are found at the chromosomal extremities (i.e. the telomeres) and also at the intra-chromosomal region (i.e. oncogenic promoters) in several important oncogenes. The formation of G-quadruplex structures is considered to have important consequences at the cellular level and such structures have been evoked in the control of expression of certain genes involved in carcinogenesis (c-myc, c-kit, K-ras etc.) as well as in the perturbation of telomeric organization. It has been shown that the formation of quadruplexes inhibits the telomere extension by the telomerase enzyme, which is up-regulated in cancer cells. Therefore, G-quadruplex structures are an important target for drug design and development and there is a huge interest in design and development of small molecules (ligands) to target these structures. A large number of so-called G-quadruplex ligands, displaying varying degrees of affinity and more importantly selectivity (i.e. the ability to interact only with quadruplex-DNA and not duplex-DNA), have been reported. Access to efficient and robust in vitro assays is needed to effectively monitor and quantify the G-quadruplex DNA/ligand interactions. This tutorial review provides an overview of G-quadruplex ligands and biophysical techniques available to monitor such interactions.     

Intercalation of a Heterocyclic Ligand between Quartets in a G-Rich Tetrahelical Structure

YES G-rich oligonucleotide VK2 folds into an AGCGA-quadruplex tetrahelical structure distinct and significantly different from G-quadruplexes, even though it contains four G₃ tracts. Herein, a bis-quinolinium ligand 360A with high affinity for G-quadruplex structures and selective telomerase inhibition is shown to strongly bind to VK2. Upon binding, 360A does not induce a conformational switch from VK2 to an expected G-quadruplex. In contrast, NMR structural study revealed formation of a well-defined VK2–360A complex with a 1:1 binding stoichiometry, in which 360A intercalates between GAGA- and GCGC-quartets in the central cavity of VK2. This is the first high-resolution structure of a G-quadruplex ligand intercalating into a G-rich tetrahelical fold. This unique mode of ligand binding into tetrahelical DNA architecture offers insights into the stabilization of an AGCGA-quadruplex by a heterocyclic ligand and provides guidelines for rational design of novel VK2 binding molecules with selectivity for different DNA secondary structures.     

钌配合物与G-四链体DNA的相互作用研究进展

人体端粒由富含鸟嘌呤(G)的DNA重复序列组成,该序列在一定条件下可以形成G-四链体DNA结构。小分子化合物诱导该结构的形成并使之稳定,可以抑制端粒酶活性而达到抗肿瘤的目的。因此,G-四链体DNA稳定剂的设计和筛选是近年来生物无机化学的重要前沿研究领域之一。在金属配合物中,钌配合物由于具有丰富的光化学、光物理特性以及生物活性,其作为G-四链体DNA稳定剂引起人们的高度关注。本文以近年一些代表性的研究工作为例,对钌配合物与G-四链体DNA相互作用方面的研究进展进行了综述。     

Telomestatin, a potent telomerase inhibitor that interacts quite specifically with the human telomeric intramolecular g-quadruplex

Telomestatin is a natural product isolated from Streptomyces anulatus 3533-SV4 and has been shown to be a very potent telomerase inhibitor. The structural similarity between telomestatin and a G-tetrad suggested to us that the telomerase inhibition might be due to its ability either to facilitate the formation of or trap out preformed G-quadruplex structures, and thereby sequester single-stranded d[T(2)AG(3)](n) primer molecules required for telomerase activity. Significantly, telomestatin appears to be a more potent inhibitor of telomerase (5 nM) than any of the previously described G-quadruplex-interactive molecules. In this communication we provide the first experimental evidence that telomestatin selectively facilitates the formation of or stabilizes intramolecular G-quadruplexes, in particular, that produced from the human telomeric sequence d[T(2)AG(3)](4). A simulated annealing (SA) docking approach was used to study the binding interactions of telomestatin with the intramolecular antiparallel G-quadruplex structure. Each intramolecular G-quadruplex molecule was found to bind two telomestatin molecules (unpublished results). A 2:1 model for the telomestatin bound in the external stacking mode in an energy minimized complex with the human telomeric basket-type G-quadruplex was constructed. Our observation that a G-quadruplex-interactive molecule without significant groove interactions is able to reorient in a G-quadruplex structure proints to the importance of core interaction with an asymmetric G-quadruplex structure in producing selective binding. Furthermore, the G-quadruplex interactions of telomestatin are more selective for the intramolecular structure in contrast to other G-quadruplex-interactive agents, such as TMPyP4.     

Structure of human telomeric DNA in crowded solution

G-quadruplex structures formed by DNA at the human telomeres are attractive anticancer targets. Human telomeric sequences can adopt a diverse range of intramolecular G-quadruplex conformations: a parallel-stranded conformation was observed in the crystalline state, while at least four other forms were seen in K(+) solution, raising the question of which conformation is favored in crowded cellular environment. Here, we report the first NMR structure of a human telomeric G-quadruplex in crowded solution. We show that four different G-quadruplex conformations are converted to a propeller-type parallel-stranded G-quadruplex in K(+)-containing crowded solution due to water depletion. This study also reveals the formation of a new higher-order G-quadruplex structure under molecular crowding conditions. Our molecular dynamics simulations of solvent distribution provide insights at molecular level on the formation of parallel-stranded G-quadruplex in environment depleted of water. These results regarding human telomeric DNA can be extended to oncogenic promoters and other genomic G-rich sequences.     

Cyclic Naphthalene Diimide Dimer with a Strengthened Ability to Stabilize Dimeric G-Quadruplex

A new type of dimeric cyclic naphthalene diimide derivatives (cNDI-dimers) carrying varied linker length were designed and synthesized to recognize dimeric G-quadruplex structures. All of the cNDI-dimers exhibited a high preference for recognizing G-quadruplex structures, and significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the dimeric G-quadruplex structure over the cNDI monomer by increasing the melting temperature by more than 23 °C, which indicated the strengthened ability of cNDI dimers for stabilizing dimeric G-quadruplex. cNDI dimers also showed a stronger ability to inhibit telomerase activity and stop telomere DNA elongation than cNDI monomer, which showed an improved anticancer potentiality for further therapeutic application.     

G-四链体DNA稳定剂的研究进展

人体端粒由富含鸟嘌呤(G)的DNA重复序列组成,该序列在一定的条件下可以形成G-四链体DNA的结构.小分子化合物诱导该结构的形成并使之稳定,不但可以抑制端粒酶的活性或降低癌基因的转录表达而达到抗肿瘤的目的,还可以作为G-四链体DNA的探针,辅助G-四链体DNA生物功能的研究及与之相关疾病的诊断.因此,G-四链体DNA稳定剂的设计是近年来化学生物学的重要前沿领域之一.到目前为止,G-四链体DNA稳定剂主要可分为有机小分子化合物和金属配合物.本文重点综述这两方面特别是后者的最新研究进展.     

Platinum phenanthroimidazole complexes as G-quadruplex DNA selective binders

Complexes that bind and stabilize G-quadruplex DNA structures are of significant interest due to their potential to inhibit telomerase and halt tumor cell proliferation. We here report the synthesis of the first Pt(II) G-quadruplex selective molecules, containing pi-extended phenanthroimidazole ligands. Binding studies of these complexes with duplex and quadruplex d(T(4)G(4)T(4))(4) DNA were performed. Intercalation to duplex DNA was established through UV/Vis titration, CD spectroscopy, and thermal denaturation studies. Significantly stronger binding affinity of these phenanthroimidazole Pt(II) complexes to G-quadruplex DNA was observed by UV/Vis spectroscopy and competitive equilibrium dialysis studies. Observed binding constants to quadruplex DNA were nearly two orders of magnitude greater than for duplex DNA. Circular dichroism studies show that an increase in pi-surface leads to a significant increase in the thermal stability of the Pt(II)/quadruplex DNA complex. The match in the pi-surface of these phenanthroimidazole Pt(II) complexes with quadruplex DNA was further substantiated by molecular modeling studies. Numerous favorable pi-stacking interactions with the large aromatic surface of the intermolecular G-quadruplex, and unforeseen hydrogen bonds between the ancillary ethylenediamine ligands and the quadruplex phosphate backbone are predicted. Thus, both biological and computational studies suggest that coupling the square-planar geometry of Pt(II) with pi-extended ligands results in a simple and modular method to create effective G-quadruplex selective binders, which can be readily optimized for use in telomerase-based antitumor therapy.     

Promoting the formation and stabilization of human telomeric G-quadruplex DNA, inhibition of telomerase and cytotoxicity by phenanthroline derivatives

Four new di-substituted phenanthroline-based compounds a-d have been designed and prepared, and they have been shown to induce the formation of anti-parallel structure of human telomeric G-quadruplex DNA by CD spectra. FRET assay indicates that the melting temperature increases (ΔT(m) values) of G-quadruplex in buffer (pH 7.4) containing 100 mM NaCl are 31.6, 34.6, 17.8 and 32.6 °C for the compounds (1.0 μM) a, b, c and d, respectively. Competitive FRET assay shows that the four compounds exhibit a high G-quadruplex DNA selectivity over duplex DNA. Three of the compounds are the potent telomerase inhibitors and HeLa cell proliferation inhibitors.