20 June 2002

Cell biology: End in sight

Telomeres, the physical ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, are made up of short repeats of the same DNA sequence and serve to protect genes from damage. Breakdowns in telomere maintenance are implicated in ageing and cancer. Telomeric DNA sequences can form four-stranded structures and the crystal structure of one such quadruplex grown at a potassium concentration like that inside a human cell has been determined, revealing DNA folding fundamentally different from previously published sodium-containing structures. The new DNA structure suggests a straightforward path for telomere folding and unfolding.

Crystal structure of parallel quadruplexes from human telomeric DNA
GARY N. PARKINSON, MICHAEL P. H. LEE & STEPHEN NEIDLE
Nature 417, 876–880 (2002); doi:10.1038/nature755
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