Synchrotron radiation circular dichroism of various G-quadruplex structures

Here we report synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectra of various G-quadruplexes from 179 to 350 nm, and a number of bands in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) are reported for the first time. For a tetramolecular parallel structure, the strongest band in the spectrum is a negative band in the VUV at 182 nm; for a bimolecular antiparallel structure with diagonal loops, a new strong positive band is found at 190 nm; for a bimolecular parallel structure with edgewise loops, a strong positive band at 189 nm is observed; and for a self-folded chair-type structure, the strongest band in the spectrum is a positive band at 187 nm. For the tetramolecular parallel structure, the CD signals at all wavelengths are dominated by contributions from quartets of G bases, and the signal strength is approximately proportional to the number of quartets. Our experiments on well-characterized G-quadruplex structures lead us to question past attributions of CD signals to helix handedness and G quartet polarity. Although differences can be observed in the VUV region for the various quadruplex types, there do not appear to be clear-cut spectral features that can be used to identify specific topological features. It is suggested that this is because a dominant positive band in the VUV seen near 190 nm in all quadruplex structures is due to intrastrand guanine-guanine base stacking. However, our spectra can serve as reference spectra for the G-quadruplex structures investigated and, not least, to benchmark theoretical calculations and empirical models.