Walking a Supramolecular Tightrope: A Self-Assembled Dodecamer from an 8-Aryl-2'-deoxyguanosine Derivative

摘要

Guanosine quadruplexes (GQs) have emerged in recent years as key players in the development of promising functional nanostruc-tures. GQs are formed by the self-assembly of guanosine subunits into planar tetramers (G-tetrads) that stack on each other, assisted by the complexation of a metal cation such as K~+ or Na~+. Alternatively, GQs can also form via the folding of G-rich oligonucleotides (e.g., DNA, RNA) leading to monomeric, dimeric, and tetrameric structures via the association of one, two, or four oligonucleotides, respectively. In the latter, the number of G-tetrads is primarily controlled by the sequence (intrinsic parameter) of the oligonucleotide, whereas, in the former, such control can be primarily achieved by adjusting extrinsic parameters (e.g., concentration, temperature, solvent, the cation template, and/or its counteranion). Controlling the molecularity via intrinsic parameters (i.e., structural information in the supramolecular building blocks) enables the reliable construction of nanostructures of well-defined size and composition. In recent years we have developed 8-aryl-2'-deoxyguanosine (8ArG) derivatives as versatile recognition motifs for the construction of supramolecular nanostructures in organic and aqueous media (Figure 1).