Human DNA contains many mysteriously folded structures known as i-Motifs. They are structural bends in the DNA, which look like a “W” folded in the middle along the Y axis, that can lead to the upregulation of a gene, while hairpins in the same location of a gene cause suppression reported L.H. Hurley of UAz and H. Mao of Kent State in the J.Am.Chem 2014, DOI: 10.1021/ja4101093.
Using a chemical called IMC-48 (piperidine derivative) and IMC-76 (pregnanol derivative) they were able to bind and stabilize the DNA structure in either i-motifs or hairpins and switch the gene on or off. The work provides “the first evidence for control of gene transcription by small molecules that target two alternatively folded forms of DNA in dynamic equilibrium.”
