Characterization of DNA G-quadruplex species forming from C9ORF72 G4C2-expanded repeats associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration

The G4C2 hexanucleotide repeat expansion, located in the first intron of the C9ORF72 gene, represents a major genetic hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Several hypotheses have been proposed on how the transcribed repeat RNA leads to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. However, despite their importance, factors affecting the transcription of expanded-repeat RNA are not well known. As transcription is dependent on the DNA containing the expanded repeats, it is crucial to understand its structure. G-quadruplexes are known to affect expression on the level of DNA, therefore whether they form on the expanded-repeat DNA constitutes an important biological question. Using nuclear magnetic resonance and circular dichroism spectroscopy we show that DNA G4C2 with varying number of repeats d(G4C2)n form planar guanine quartets characteristic of G-quadruplexes. Additionally, we show DNA G-quadruplexes can form inter- and intra-molecularly in either parallel or anti-parallel orientation, based on d(G4C2) sequence length. This potential structural heterogeneity of longer disease-relevant repeats should therefore be taken into account when studying their role in disease pathogenesis.