Real-Time Monitoring of G-Quadruplex Formation during Transcription

Cotranscriptional folding of an RNA transcript enables formation of metastable RNA structures. Thermodynamic and kinetic properties of RNA G-quadruplex formation have previously been investigated using purified guanine-rich oligonucleotides. Here, we describe a method for analysis of cotranscriptional dynamics of the G-quadruplex formation based on real-time monitoring of the fluorescence of G-quadruplex ligands. For RNA sequences with the potential to form mutually exclusive hairpin or G-quadruplex structures, the efficiency of G-quadruplex formation during transcription depended on position of the hairpin forming sequence. The real-time monitoring enabled evaluation of environmental effects on RNA dynamics, as we demonstrated facilitation of post-transcriptional G-quadruplex formation under molecular crowding conditions. The strategy demonstrated here provides folding insights into the G-quadruplex during transcription that should be involved in gene regulation.