An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer

Sanchez-Martin, Victoria; Lopez-Pujante, Carmen; Soriano-Rodriguez, Miguel; Garcia-Salcedo, Jose A.

doi:10.3390/ijms21238900

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An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer

by

Victoria Sanchez-Martin

^1,2,3

,

Carmen Lopez-Pujante

¹,

Miguel Soriano-Rodriguez

^1,4,*

and

Jose A. Garcia-Salcedo

^1,2,*

¹

GENYO, Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research, Pfizer/University of Granada/Andalusian Regional Government, PTS Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain

²

Microbiology Unit, University Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Biosanitary Research Institute IBS, Granada, 18014 Granada, Spain

³

Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology III and Immunology, University of Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain

⁴

Centre for Intensive Mediterranean Agrosystems and Agri-food Biotechnology (CIAMBITAL), University of Almeria, 04001 Almeria, Spain

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(23), 8900; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21238900

Submission received: 28 October 2020 / Revised: 13 November 2020 / Accepted: 20 November 2020 / Published: 24 November 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer Progression and Targeted Therapy Attempts)

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Abstract

Non-canonical, four-stranded nucleic acids secondary structures are present within regulatory regions in the human genome and transcriptome. To date, these quadruplex structures include both DNA and RNA G-quadruplexes, formed in guanine-rich sequences, and i-Motifs, found in cytosine-rich sequences, as their counterparts. Quadruplexes have been extensively associated with cancer, playing an important role in telomere maintenance and control of genetic expression of several oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Therefore, quadruplex structures are considered attractive molecular targets for cancer therapeutics with novel mechanisms of action. In this review, we provide a general overview about recent research on the implications of quadruplex structures in cancer, firstly gathering together DNA G-quadruplexes, RNA G-quadruplexes as well as DNA i-Motifs.

Keywords: DNA G-quadruplex; RNA G-quadruplex; i-Motif; cancer

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sanchez-Martin, V.; Lopez-Pujante, C.; Soriano-Rodriguez, M.; Garcia-Salcedo, J.A. An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 8900. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21238900

AMA Style

Sanchez-Martin V, Lopez-Pujante C, Soriano-Rodriguez M, Garcia-Salcedo JA. An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(23):8900. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21238900

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sanchez-Martin, Victoria, Carmen Lopez-Pujante, Miguel Soriano-Rodriguez, and Jose A. Garcia-Salcedo. 2020. "An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21, no. 23: 8900. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21238900

APA Style

Sanchez-Martin, V., Lopez-Pujante, C., Soriano-Rodriguez, M., & Garcia-Salcedo, J. A. (2020). An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(23), 8900. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21238900

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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An Updated Focus on Quadruplex Structures as Potential Therapeutic Targets in Cancer

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