Tertiary structure motif of Oxytricha telomere DNA.

The tertiary structure of a single-stranded DNA containing the sequence of Oxytricha telomere DNA has been determined. This DNA adopts a compact tertiary structure that consists of four base-paired tetrads of guanine residues which are connected by three loops. The tetrads show significant deviations from planarity, and two of the loops exhibit significant loop-loop interactions. The structure of this telomere contains syn-thymine residues, which are in the loops, as well as an intraloop pyrimidine-pyrimidine base pair between residues that are separated by a single residue. The tertiary structure of the telomere DNA is consistent with prior results that showed that two thymines distant in sequence could be photo-cross-linked. The overall folding pattern of this telomere DNA is similar to that previously determined for a DNA aptamer, which binds to and inhibits thrombin, though the details of the two structures are quite distinct.