Ligand binding to tetra-end-linked (TGGGGT)4 G-quadruplexes: an electrospray mass spectroscopy study

The binding properties of a series of known G-quadruplex ligands have been studied by ESI-MS experiments. The tetramolecular (TG(4)T)(4) quadruplex and its analogues I and II blocked, respectively, at the 3' or 5'-end by a tetra-end-linker (TEL) unit were chosen as the ligands targets. The stoichiometries of the obtained complexes as well as the ligand affinity and selectivity to the different quadruplexes were determined to deduce the ligand binding site. The TEL derivatives I and II allowed the probing of the grooves contribution to the binding of ligands to G-quadruplexes, demonstrating that the 3' and 5' quartets are not equivalent binding sites for ligand end-stacking.