Detection of G-quadruplex DNA in mammalian cells.

Nucleic Acids Res. 2014 Jan; 42(2): 860–869. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkt957

The corresponding Author and Editors wish to jointly express a note of concern regarding the above article.

Recent studies by the corresponding Author and new collaborators have revealed that mouse monoclonal antibody 1H6, used in the above article to detect G-quadruplexes, cross-reacts with some other DNA sequences, notably adjacent thymidines in single stranded DNA that are restricted in their movement in G4 structures and denatured DNA fibers. While the data reported in the published article remain valid, the Editors and corresponding Author wish to alert Readers of this cross-reactivity as it is likely to affect the interpretation of the results of all experiments using the 1H6 antibody.

The Editors commend the corresponding Author for being forthcoming and disclosing these latest results which have been also been published in NAR (1).

Keith Fox, Senior Executive Editor, Nucleic Acids Research

Barry Stoddard, Senior Executive Editor, Nucleic Acids Research