From G-Quadruplex Stabilization to Anticancer Therapy

Dear Colleagues,

The formation of G-quadruplex DNA at the end of telomeres has been reported to inhibit telomerase activity, since the enzyme will not be able to bypass the folded form of its DNA substrate. Furthermore, the formation of G-quadruplexes in the promoter regions of several human genes and oncogenes supports their regulatory potential toward cancer cell growth.

The stabilization of DNA G-quadruplexes by ligands promotes the indirect inactivation of telomerase in cancer cells and leads to downregulation of the expression of genes in oncogene promoters, thus being considered a potential and valuable anticancer therapy. The development of G-quadruplexes stabilizing ligands could open new avenues in antitumor drug design that envisages selective anticancer therapies based on G-quadruplexes.

The identification of key structural characteristics that can potentiate ligand specificity and affinity for G-quadruplexes could provide significant inputs for the design of drugs that effectively control cancer cell proliferation.

The aim of this Special Issue, “From G-Quadruplex Stabilization to anticancer Therapy”, is to provide the opportunity to share recent advances on G-quadruplex-based drug design and development of new antitumor drugs and therapies. We invite original research papers and comprehensive reviews covering any aspect related to the abovementioned topics.

Dr. Catarina I. V. Ramos
Dr. Carla Cruz
Prof. Dr. M. Graça P. M. S. Neves
Guest Editors

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