Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Single-Molecule Fluorescence Visualization of DNA Polymerase Dynamics at G-Quadruplexes
Published on: April 4, 2025
Dynamic Generation of G-Quadruplex DNA Ligands by Target-Guided Combinatorial Chemistry on a Magnetic Nanoplatform
Snehasish Jana1, Deepanjan Panda1, Puja Saha1
1School of Chemical Sciences , Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science , Jadavpur, Kolkata 700032 , India.
Abstract:
Dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) has emerged as a promising strategy for template-driven selection of high-affinity ligands for biological targets from equilibrating combinatorial libraries. However, only a few examples using disulfide-exchange-based DCC are reported for nucleic acid targets. Herein, we have demonstrated that gold-coated magnetic nanoparticle-conjugated DNA targets can be used as templates for dynamic selection of ligands from an imine-based combinatorial library. The implementation of DCC using DNA nanotemplates enables efficient identification of the lead compounds, from the dynamic combinatorial library via magnetic decantation. It further allows quick separation of DNA nanotemplates for reuse in DCC reactions. The identified lead compound exhibits significant quadruplex versus duplex DNA selectivity and suppresses promoter activity of c-MYC gene that contains G-quadruplex DNA forming sequence in the upstream promoter region. Further cellular experiments indicated that the lead compound is able to permeate into cell nuclei and trigger a DNA damage response in cancer cells.
Related Concept Videos
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Ligand Binding and Linkage
Ligand Binding Sites
Protein-ligand interactions are quite specific; even though numerous potential ligands surround a cellular protein at any given time, only a particular ligand can bind to that protein. Moreover, a ligand binds only to a dedicated area on the surface of the protein, known as the...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
Chemistry of the Cell
Water
The polarity of the water molecule and its resulting hydrogen bonding makes water a unique substance with special properties that are intimately tied to the processes of life. Life originally evolved in an aqueous environment, and most of an organism’s cellular chemistry and metabolism occur inside the aqueous contents of the cell’s cytoplasm. Special properties of water are its high heat capacity...

