Calcium-Dependent Chemiluminescence Catalyzed by a Truncated c-MYC Promoter G-Triplex DNA

The dynamic landscape of non-canonical DNA G-quadruplex (G4) folding into G-triplex intermediates has led to the study of G-triplex structures and their ability to serve as peroxidase-mimetic DNAzymes. Here we report the formation, stability, and catalytic activity of a 5′-truncated c-MYC promoter region G-triplex, c-MYC-G3. Through circular dichroism, we demonstrated that c-MYC-G3 adopts a stable, parallel-stranded G-triplex conformation. The chemiluminescent oxidation of luminol by the peroxidase mimicking DNAzyme activity of c-MYC-G3 was increased in the presence of Ca2+ ions. We utilized surface plasmon resonance to characterize both c-MYC-G3 G-triplex formation and its interaction with hemin. The detailed study of c-MYC-G3 and its ability to form a G-triplex structure and its DNAzyme activity identifies issues that can be addressed in future G-triplex DNAzyme designs.