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.     

A novel electrochemical aptasensor for highly sensitive detection of thrombin based on the autonomous assembly of hemin/G-quadruplex horseradish peroxidase-mimicking DNAzyme nanowires

In this work, a new signal amplified strategy was constructed based on isothermal exponential amplification reaction (EXPAR) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR) generating the hemin/G-quadruplex horseradish peroxidase-mimicking DNAzyme (HRP-mimicking DNAzyme) nanowires as signal output component for the sensitive detection of thrombin (TB). We employed EXPAR’s ultra-high amplification efficiency to produce a large amount of two hairpin helper DNAs within a minutes. And then the resultant two hairpin helper DNAs could autonomously assemble the hemin/G-quadruplex HRP-mimicking DNAzymes nanowires as the redox-active reporter units on the electrode surface via hybridization chain reaction (HCR). The hemin/G-quadruplex structures simultaneously served as electron transfer medium and electrocatalyst to amplify the signal in the presence of H₂O₂. Specifically, only when the EXPAR reaction process has occurred, the HCR could be achieved and the hemin/G-quadruplex complexes could be formed on the surface of an electrode to give a detectable signal. The proposed strategy combines the amplification power of the EXPAR, HCR, and the inherent high sensitivity of the electrochemical detection. With such design, the proposed assay showed a good linear relationship within the range of 0.1 pM–50 nM with a detection limit of 33 fM (defined as S/N = 3) for TB.     

用结晶紫为荧光指示剂筛选G-四链体的小分子配体

基于结晶紫(CV)与G-四链体的特异性结合以及结晶紫和端粒DNA(G-DNA)、G-四链体作用后荧光强度的差异,以天然抗肿瘤中药槲皮素为研究对象,建立了一种简单、快速、无标记筛选G-四链体配体的方法。研究了槲皮素与G-DNA的相互作用,并考察了G-DNA在K+存在下形成G-四链体后与槲皮素的作用情况。该方法已用于筛选G-四链体的小分子配体。     

鸟嘌呤四链体中Na~+的移动

Na+-G-四链体复合物是一个明显的极化体系,其形成或解离过程中,Na+的移动路线目前还不十分明确.σπ水平的原子-键电负性均衡方法融合进分子力学(ABEEMσπ/MM)模型除原子位点外,还明确地定义了孤对电子、σ键和π键的位置,并且各位点电荷随分子环境改变而浮动,因此能更好地反映该体系的极化现象.本文应用ABEEMσπ/MM方法研究了Na+-G-四平面复合物的性质,包括它的几何构型、电荷分布和结合能等,并在MP2/6-31G(d,p)水平上做了相应的从头算,两种结果十分吻合.Na+的存在改变了G-tetrad的氢键方式.通过比较Na+各条移动路线中体系的结合能,预测G-四链体中三个Na+最有可能沿α方向依次移出.以上研究为进一步应用ABEEMσπ/MM模型进行G-四链体中离子交换通道的动力学模拟打下坚实的基础.     

Inducement and stabilization of G-quadruplex DNA by a thiophene-containing dinuclear ruthenium(II) complex

G-quadruplex structures are attractive targets for the development of anticancer drugs, as their formation in human telomere could impair telomerase activity, thus inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. In this work, a thiophene-containing dinuclear ruthenium(II) complex, [Ru₂(bpy)₄(H₂bipt)]⁴⁺ {bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, H₂bipt = 2,5-bis[1,10]phenanthrolin[4,5-f]-(imidazol-2-yl)thiophene}, was prepared and the interaction between the complex and human telomeric DNA oligomers 5′-G₃(T₂AG₃)₃-3′ (HTG21) has been investigated by UV-Vis, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) melting assay, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) stop assay, fluorescent intercalator displacement (FID) titrations, Job plot and color reaction studies. The results indicate that the complex can well induce and stabilize the formation of antiparallel G-quadruplex of telomeric DNA in the presence or absence of metal cations, and the ΔT_m value of the G-quadruplex DNA treated with the complex was obtained to be 12.8 °C even at levels of 50-fold molar of duplex DNA (calf-thymus DNA), suggesting that the complex exhibits higher G-quadruplex DNA selectivity over duplex DNA. The complex shows high interaction ability with G-quadruplex DNA at (1.17 ± 0.12) × 10⁷ M^?1 binding affinity using a 2:1 [complex]/[quadruplex] binding mode ratio. A novel visual method has been developed here for making a distinction between G-quadruplex DNA and duplex DNA by our ruthenium complex binding hemin to form the hemin-G-quadruplex DNAzyme.     

Development of a light-up fluorescent probe for HRAS G-quadruplex DNA

The development of small-molecule G-quadruplex DNA probes has attracted significant attention in recent years. However, G-quadruplexes can display a wide variety of topologies, which process different structures and functions. Therefore, selective discrimination one G-quadruplex structure over another is promising. Herein, we reported the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a long-chain fatty amine functionalized triphenylamine-quinolinium conjugate 1b. Significant enhancement of the fluorescence intensity (over 180 fold) was observed when 1b bound with HRAS G-quadruplex DNA, while much weaker enhancements were presented in the presence of other G-quadruplexes (45–90-fold) and single/double-stranded DNAs (less than 20-fold), indicating 1b had an excellent selectivity to HRAS. The details of the interactions were investigated by UV–Vis, FID and CD analysis. The results show 1b could interact and stabilize HRAS structure mainly by π-π stacking binding mode. The introduced amine chain of the structure core was found to be better in the terms of inducing selectivity toward G-quadruplex structure. In addition, the application of 1b as a fluorescent agent for living cell imaging was also demonstrated.     

旁侧序列对端粒DNA G-quadruplex热稳定性和折叠与去折叠动力学的影响

从热力学和动力学两个方面研究了旁侧序列对人端粒核心序列G3（T2AG3）3在钠离子溶液中所形成的Cr-quadruplex结构的影响．紫外吸收熔解实验表明G3（T2AG3）3一侧或两侧加上6个胸腺嘧啶核苷酸序列（T6）会明显降低G-quadruplex的相变温度（Tm）．在3′端加上T6时Tm降低约5℃，在5′端加上T6时Tm降低约10℃，两侧同时加上T6时L降低16℃．采用表面等离子体共振（surface plasmon resonance，SPR）测定G-quadruplex折叠和去折叠动力学的结果表明旁侧序列的加入同时降低了折叠和去折叠的速率常数（kf，ku），使折叠平衡常数（KF）由9．01降至7．44．上述结果表明旁侧序列的存在降低了G-quadruplex结构的稳定性．     

靶向抑制拓扑异构酶和端粒酶的钌配合物研究进展

金属配合物抗肿瘤研究,尤其是铂类药物,已取得了相对令人瞩目的成功,但同时也面临着包括耐药性和毒副作用等诸多问题。近年来钌配合物作为新的抗癌药物引起了人们的注意。在非铂系药物中,金属钌配合物是最有前途的抗癌药物之一,国际上普遍认为钌和钌的配合物属于低毒性,容易吸收并在体内很快排泄。本文将着重介绍钌配合物与DNA结合后进一步引发的细胞内核酶活性抑制研究,从新的角度来诠释钌配合物的抗肿瘤研究最新进展。