Recommended Citation
Wang, Kai-Bo; Wang, Yingying; Dickerhoff, Jonathan; and Yang, Danzhou, "DNA G-Quadruplexes as Targets for Natural Product Drug Discovery" (2024). Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. Paper 178.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2024.03.015
DOI
10.1016/j.eng.2024.03.015
Date of this Version
5-24-2024
Keywords
G-quadruplex, Natural products, Alkaloids, Cancer, Promoter
Abstract
DNA guanine (G)-quadruplexes (G4s) are unique secondary structures formed by two or more stacked G-tetrads in G-rich DNA sequences. These structures have been found to play a crucial role in highly transcribed genes, especially in cancer-related oncogenes, making them attractive targets for cancer therapeutics. Significantly, targeting oncogene promoter G4 structures has emerged as a promising strategy to address the challenge of undruggable and drug-resistant proteins, such as MYC, BCL2, KRAS, and EGFR. Natural products have long been an important source of drug discovery, particularly in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases. Noteworthy progress has recently been made in the discovery of naturally occurring DNA G4-targeting drugs. Numerous DNA G4s, such as MYC-G4, BCL2-G4, KRAS-G4, PDGFR-β-G4, VEGF-G4, and telomeric-G4, have been identified as potential targets of natural products, including berberine, telomestatin, quindoline, sanguinarine, isaindigotone, and many others. Herein, we summarize and evaluate recent advancements in natural and nature-derived DNA G4 binders, focusing on understanding the structural recognition of DNA G4s by small molecules derived from nature. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with developing drugs that target DNA G4s.
Comments
This is the publisher PDF of Wang, K.; Wang, Y.; Dickerhoff, J.; and Yang, D. (2024) DNA G-Quadruplexes as Targets for Natural Product Drug Discovery Engineering. 38, 39-51. This article is distributed under a CC-BY-NC-ND license, and is available at DOI: 10.1016/j.eng.2024.03.015.