Occurrence and Biological Role of Non-Canonical Structural Motifs in Nucleic Acids
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2020) | Viewed by 325
Special Issue Editor
Interests: occurrence of non-canonical structures of nucleic acids in living organisms and viruses; cruciform; i-Motif; DNA-ligand interaction; thermodynamic stability; temperature-gradient gel electrophoresis; circular dichroism; aptamers; bio-nano conjugates; biological role of alternative structure
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
It is known that non-canonical structural motifs can be formed under physiological conditions in regions of biological significance. In recent years, G-quadruplexes have received a greatly elevated amount of research interest. G-quadruplex putative sequences are located in telomeres, oncogene promoter regions, replication initiation sites, and untranslated RNA regions (UTR). In addition, a G-quadruplex motif has been found in many newly discovered aptamers. Hairpin-like structures and cruciforms occur in non-coding regions, mainly in promoters of many important genes. Currently, there is a scientific discussion going on about the biological significance of i-motifs in cellular systems. Frequently, non-canonical motifs are found to be associated with many genetic disorders and various cancers. Therefore, non-canonical nucleic acid structures are attractive molecular targets. G-quadruplex interactive ligands have been identified to exhibit antiproliferative activity against tumor models both in vitro and in vivo. This Special Issue aims to provide an opportunity to share new findings and recent advances in non-canonical nucleic acid motifs occurring in various organisms, including viruses and their specific ligands, toward the development of new therapeutically effective drugs against various human health problems.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Viktor Viglasky
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- non-canonical structures in nucleic acids
- nucleic acid conformation and stability
- molecular targets
- targeted ligands
- viruses
- bacteria
- microorganisms
- aptamers
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