Structural polymorphism of telomeric DNA regulated by pH and divalent cation

DNA oligonucleotides can form multi-stranded structures such as a duplex, triplex, and quadruplex, while the double helical structure is generally considered as the canonical structure of DNA oligonucleotides. Guanine-rich or cytosine-rich oligonucleotides, which are observed in telomere, centromere, and other biologically important sequences in vivo, can form four-stranded G-quadruplex and I-motif structures in vitro. In this study, we have investigated the effects of pH and cation on the structures and their stabilities of d(G(4)T(4)G(4)) and d(C(4)A(4)C(4)). The CD spectra and thermal melting curves of DNAs at various pHs demonstrated that acidic conditions induced a stable, I-motif structure. of d(C(4)A(4)C(4)), while the pH value did not affect the G-quadruplex structure and stability of d(G(4)T(4)G(4)). The CD spectra of the 1: 1 mixture of d(G(4)T(4)G(4)) and d(C(4)A(4)C(4)) indicated that the acidic conditions inhibit the duplex formation between d(G(4)T(4)G(4)) and d(C(4)A(4)C(4)). Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements of the duplex formation at various pHs also quantitatively indicated that the acidic conditions inhibit the duplex formation. On the other hand, the CD spectra and thermal melting curves of DNAs in the absence and presence of Ca2+ indicated that Ca2+ induces a parallel G-quadruplex sructure of d(G(4)T(4)G(4)) and then inhibits the duplex formation. These results lead to the conclusion that both the pH and coexisting cation can induce and regulate the structural polymorphisms the oligonucleotides in which they form the G-quadruplex, I-motif, and duplex depending on the conditions. Thus, the results reported here indicate pivotal roles of pH and coexisting cations in biological processes by regulating the conformational switching between the duplex and quadruplexes structures of the guanine-rich or cytosine-rich oligonucleotides in vivo.