Title:RNA G-Quadruplex: The New Potential Targets for Therapy
Volume: 15
Issue: 19
Author(s): Shi-Ke Wang, Yue Wu and Tian-Miao Ou
Affiliation:
Keywords:
G-quadruplex, RNA, Drug targets, Biological function, DNA.
Abstract: Roles of RNA on transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulations have raised more attention
since the new era of genomics. One of the secondary structures of RNA, the RNA Gquadruplex
structure, is demonstrated a relatively stable existence in human tumor cells, virus, or
other species relating to diseases. G-quadruplexes are special secondary structures formed by G-rich
DNA and RNA sequences that fold into a four-stranded conformation. The G-quadruplexes formed in
RNA are involved in many biological process including telomere elongation, transcription regulate,
pre-mRNA splicing and translation. In this review, we will give a brief introduction to the structures
of RNA G-quadruplexes, the biological roles and the potential to be as drug targets.