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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Chemical Dimerization-Induced Protein Condensates on Telomeres
Published on: April 12, 2021
Structural switch of telomere DNA by pH and monovalent cation
Mamiko Inoue1, Daisuke Miyoshi, Naoki Sugimoto
1Depertment of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Konan University 8-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
Because of the importance of telomere DNAs, the structures of these DNAs in vivo and in vitro are currently of great research interest in the medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, and industrial fields. In this study, we investigated the structure and thermodynamic properties of the telomere DNAs in the presence of monovalent cations, K+ or Na+. The results demonstrate that the duplex-quadruplex conversion of the 1:1 mixture of telomere G-rich and C-rich sequences can be induced depending on cation species and its concentration. Furthermore, slightly acidic condition stabilizes the i-motif and forces the mixture to dissociate. These results suggest that the structure and stability of telomere DNAs can be controlled by monovalent cation and pH.
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