中央研究院 原子與分子科學研究所

The role of G-quadruplexes (G4s) in biological systems has been widely studied. It is found that they have an important function in gene transcription and regulation. In this work, we have identified two topologies of hairpin and G4 structures formed by a native G-rich sequence (WT22: 5′-GGGCCACCGGGCAGGGGGCGGG-3′) from the WNT1 promoter region using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. With the help of site-specific isotope labeling, the topologies of these two structures are unambiguously characterized. Circular dichroism and NMR results are analyzed to determine the kinetics associated with the potassium ion-induced hairpin-to-G4 transition, which is very slow—on the time scale of 4800 s—compared to the previously reported folding kinetics of G4 formation. In addition, the free energies of the unfolding of these two structures are obtained using differential scanning calorimetry. Combining the kinetic and thermodynamic data, we have established the free energy landscape of this two-state folding system. Considering that similar conformational change may exist in other native G-rich sequences, this work highlights an important hairpin to G4 conformational transition which can be used in manipulation of gene regulation or ligand modulation in vivo.

The diagnosis of malignant pleural effusions is an important issue in the management of malignancy patients. Generally, cytologic examination is a routine diagnostic technique. However, morphological interpretation of cytology is sometimes inconclusive. Here an ancillary method named BMVC test is developed for rapid detection of malignant pleural effusion to improve the diagnostic accuracy at low cost. A simple assay kit is designed to collect living cells from clinical pleural effusion and a fluorescence probe, 3,6-Bis(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium) carbazole diiodide (BMVC), is used to illuminate malignant cells. The fluorescence intensity is quantitatively analyzed by ImageJ program. This method yields digital numbers for the test results without any grey zone or ambiguities in the current cytology tests due to intra-observer and inter-observer variability. Comparing with results from double-blind cytologic examination, this simple test gives a good discrimination between malignant and benign specimens with sensitivity of 89.4% (42/47) and specificity of 93.3% (56/60) for diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. BMVC test provides accurate results in a short time period, and the digital output could assist cytologic examination to become more objective and clear-cut. This is a convenient ancillary tool for detection of malignant pleural effusions.

Understanding of principles governing selective and sensitive cancer targeting is critical for development of chemicals for cancer diagnostics and treatment. We determined the underlying mechanisms of how a novel fluorescent small organic molecule, 3,6-bis(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium)carbazole diiodide (BMVC), selectively labels cancer cells but not normal cells. We show that BMVC is retained in the lysosomes of normal cells. In cancer cells, BMVC escapes lysosomal retention and localizes to the mitochondria or to the nucleus, where DNA-binding dramatically increases BMVC fluorescence intensity, allowing it to light up only cancer cells. Structure-function analyses of BMVC derivatives show that hydrogen-bonding capacity is a key determinant of lysosomal retention in normal cells, whereas lipophilicity directs these derivatives to the mitochondria or the nucleus in cancer cells. In addition, drug-resistant cancer cells preferentially retain BMVC in their lysosomes compared to drug-sensitive cancer cells, and BMVC can be released from drug-resistant lysosomes using lysosomotropic agents. Our results further our understanding of how properties of cellular organelles differ between normal and cancer cells, which can be exploited for diagnostic and/or therapeutic use. We also provide physiochemical design principles for selective targeting of small molecules to different organelles. Moreover, our results suggest that agents which can increase lysosomal membrane permeability may re-sensitize drug-resistant cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents.

Guanine-rich oligonucleotides (GROs) are promising therapeutic candidate for cancer treatment and other biomedical application. We have introduced a G-quadruplex (G4) ligand, 3,6-bis(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium) carbazole diiodide, to monitor the cellular uptake of naked GROs and map their intracellular localizations in living cells by using confocal microscopy. The GROs that form parallel G4 structures, such as PU22, T40214 and AS1411, are detected mainly in the lysosome of CL1-0 lung cancer cells after incubation for 2 h. On the contrary, the GROs that form non-parallel G4 structures, such as human telomeres (HT23) and thrombin binding aptamer (TBA), are rarely detected in the lysosome, but found mainly in the mitochondria. Moreover, the fluorescence resonant energy transfer studies of fluorophore-labeled GROs show that the parallel G4 structures can be retained in CL1-0 cells, whereas the non-parallel G4 structures are likely distorted in CL1-0 cells after cellular uptake. Of interest is that the distorted G4 structure of HT23 from the non-parallel G4 structure can reform to a probable parallel G4 structure induced by a G4 ligand in CL1-0 living cells. These findings are valuable to the design and rationale behind the possible targeted drug delivery to specific cellular organelles using GROs.

A novel method based on emulsion/filtration is introduced for G-quadruplex DNA structural separation. We first synthesized a lipophilic analogue of BMVC, 3,6-Bis(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium)-9-(12'-bromododecyl) carbazole diiodide (BMVC-12C-Br), which can form an oil-in-water (o/w) phase emulsion. Due to the binding preferences of BMVC-12C-Br emulsion to some specific DNA structures, the large emulsion (∼2 µm) bound DNA was separated from the small free DNA in the filtrate by a 0.22 µm pore size MCE membrane. This method is able to isolate the non-parallel G-quadruplexes from the parallel G-quadruplexes and the linear duplexes from both G-quadruplexes. In addition, this method allows us not only to determine the absence of the parallel G-quadruplexes of d(T(2)AG(3))(4) and the presence of the parallel G-quadruplexes of d(T(2)AG(3))(2) in K(+) solution, but also to verify structural conversion from antiparallel to parallel G-quadruplexes of d[AG(3)(T(2)AG(3))(3)] in K(+) solution under molecular PEG condition. Moreover, this emulsion can separate the non-parallel G-quadruplexes of d(G(3)CGCG(3)AGGAAG(5)CG(3)) monomer from the parallel G-quadruplexes of its dimer in K(+) solution. Together with NMR spectra, one can simplify the spectra for both the free DNA and the bound DNA to establish a spectrum-structure correlation for further structural analysis.

Because various non-parallel G-quadruplexes of human telomeric sequences in K+ solution can be converted to a parallel G-quadruplex by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a co-solvent, we have taken advantage of this property of PEG to study the covalent attachment of a PEG unit to a G-quadruplex ligand, 3,6-bis(1-methyl-4-vinylpyridinium) carbazole diiodide (BMVC). The hybrid ligand with the PEG unit, BMVC-8C3O or BMVC-6C2O by substituting either the tetraethylene glycol or the triethylene glycol terminated with a methyl-piperidinium cation in N-9 position of BMVC, not only induces structural change from different non-parallel G-quadruplexes to a parallel G-quadruplex but also increases the melting temperature of human telomeres in K+ solution by more than 45°C. In addition, our ligand work provides further confidence that the local water structure plays the key to induce conformational change of human telomere.