Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Single-Molecule Analysis Of I-Motif Within Self-Assembled Dna Duplexes And Nanocircles, Anoja Megalathan, Bobby D. Cox, Peter D. Wilkerson, Anisa Kaur, Kumar Sapkota, Joseph E. Reiner, Soma Dhakal

Chemistry Publications

The cytosine (C)-rich sequences that can fold into tetraplex structures known as i-motif are prevalent in genomic DNA. Recent studies of i-motif–forming sequences have shown increasing evidence of their roles in gene regulation. However, most of these studies have been performed in short single-stranded oligonucleotides, far from the intracellular environment. In cells, i-motif–forming sequences are flanked by DNA duplexes and packed in the genome. Therefore, exploring the conformational dynamics and kinetics of i-motif under such topologically constrained environments is highly relevant in predicting their biological roles. Using single-molecule fluorescence analysis of self-assembled DNA duplexes and nanocircles, we show that the …