Possible Regulatory Roles of Promoter G-Quadruplexes in Cardiac Function-Related Genes - Human TnIc as a Model
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
G-quadruplexes (G4s) are four-stranded DNA secondary structures, which are involved in a diverse range of biological processes. Although the anti-cancer potential of G4s in oncogene promoters has been thoroughly investigated, the functions of promoter G4s in non-cancer-related genes are not well understood. We have explored the possible regulatory roles of promoter G4s in cardiac function-related genes using both computational and a wide range of experimental approaches. According to our bioinformatics results, it was found that potential G4-forming sequences are particularly enriched in the transcription regulatory regions (TRRs) of cardiac function-related genes. Subsequently, the promoter of human cardiac troponin I (TnIc) was chosen as a model, and G4s found in this region were subjected to biophysical characterisations. The chromosome 19 specific minisatellite G4 sequence (MNSG4) and near transcription start site (TSS) G4 sequence (−80 G4) adopt anti-parallel and parallel structures respectively in 100 mM KCl, with stabilities comparable to those of oncogene G4s. It was also found that TnIc G4s act cooperatively as enhancers in gene expression regulation in HEK293 cells, when stabilised by a synthetic G4-binding ligand. This study provides the first evidence of the biological significance of promoter G4s in cardiac function-related genes. The feasibility of using a single ligand to target multiple G4s in a particular gene has also been discussed.
Date Issued
2013-01-09
Date Acceptance
2012-11-23
Citation
PLOS One, 2013, 8 (1)
ISSN
1932-6203
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Journal / Book Title
PLOS One
Volume
8
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2013 Zhou et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
EP/H005285/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES
C-KIT PROMOTER
TELOMERIC G-QUADRUPLEX
I-MOTIF STRUCTURES
SUSCEPTIBILITY LOCUS IDDM2
POLYMORPHIC REGION ADOPTS
RESONANCE ENERGY-TRANSFER
GROWTH-FACTOR GENE
GENOME-WIDE
DNA-STRUCTURE
MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION
Brain
Computational Biology
DNA
G-Quadruplexes
Gene Expression Regulation
Genome, Human
HEK293 Cells
Humans
Kinetics
Ligands
Luciferases
Lung
Minisatellite Repeats
Models, Genetic
Myocardium
Nucleic Acid Conformation
Promoter Regions, Genetic
Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
Thermodynamics
Transcription Initiation Site
Troponin I
General Science & Technology
MD Multidisciplinary
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e53137