I-motif – BioQuakes

Australian researchers have discovered a new structure of DNA called i-motif. This form of DNA is in the shape of a twisted knot, vastly different from the conventional double helix model. i-motif basically looks like a four-stranded knot of DNA. In the i-motif form, the C bases on the same strand of DNA bind to each other instead of their complementary pairs.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

How did scientists discover i-motif?

i-motif previously haven’t been seen before, apart from in in-vitro (which means under laboratory conditions and not in the natural world) To detect i-motif, scientists used a tool made up of a fragment of an antibody molecule. This antibody could recognize and attach to i-motifs. Researchers showed that the i-motif structures mostly formed at the G1 phase -when mRNA is synthesized- in a cells life cycle. The i-motifs show up in promoter regions and in telomeres in the chromosome.

While scientists aren’t really sure the actual reason for their existence, some researchers suggest that they are there to help switch genes on and off and affect whether or not a gene is actively read.

Whatever the reason for their existence, they have potential to play an important role in how and when DNA is read. Prof Marcel Dinger at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research says, “It’s exciting to uncover a whole new form of DNA in cells — and these findings will set the stage for a whole new push to understand what this new DNA shape is really for, and whether it will impact on health and disease.”

Scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Australia have discovered a new form of DNA in our cells. They’ve found that this DNA does not look the same as the traditional double-helix we are all familiar with, but instead is in the shape of a four stranded “knot”. This new DNA is called i-motif. Scientists not only know the shape of this new type of DNA, they also know how it differs from helical DNA and where it is located. Unlike helical DNA in which the Cs and Gs bind, the Cs on the same strand in the i-motif bind together.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180423135054.htm

In order to locate the i-motifs in the cells, researchers developed a new tool than can recognize this type of DNA. This tool is a fragment of an antibody that attaches to the i-motif DNA molecule. They used fluorescence techniques to find exactly where in the nucleus of human cells the i-motif DNA was.

Scientists also have concluded that the i-motifs most likely form at the late G1 phase. They appear in the telomere and promoter regions.

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