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Updated: May 24, 2026

Single-molecule Manipulation of G-quadruplexes by Magnetic Tweezers
Published on: September 19, 2017
Searching drug-like anti-cancer compound(s) based on G-quadruplex ligands
Qian Li1, Jun-Feng Xiang, Hong Zhang
1Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
G-quadruplex structure is a four-stranded form of DNA, which is associated with cancer cell proliferation. G-quadruplex-stabilized ligands have the potential to interfere with telomere replication by blocking the elongation procedure catalyzed by telomerase, and therefore have the potential to be anti-cancer drugs. A considerable number of novel compounds capable of targeting G-quadruplex at high affinity and specificity have been reported. Among them, several G-quadruplex ligands have shown promising anti-cancer activity in tumor xenograft models, and entered phase II clinical trials on cancer patients. This review summarized recent developments of G-quadruplex ligands as anti-cancer drugs and several powerful strategies to discover novel G-quadruplex ligands as anti-cancer drug candidates by screening natural product extracts and structural optimization of previously identified typical compounds.
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