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Review|Volume 13, Issue 23|pp 25578—25587

G-Quadruplexes and the DNA/RNA helicase DHX36 in health, disease, and aging

Aaron Antcliff1, Louise D. McCullough1,2, Andrey S. Tsvetkov1,2,3
  • 1Department of Neurology, The University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA
  • 2The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA
  • 3UTHealth Consortium on Aging, The University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Received: September 9, 2021Accepted: November 19, 2021Published: December 4, 2021
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203738

Copyright: © 2021 Antcliff et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

G-Quadruplex (G4) DNA (G4 DNA) and RNA (G4 RNA) are secondary nucleic acid structures that have multiple roles in vital cellular processes. G4 DNA- and RNA-binding proteins and unwinding helicases associate with and regulate G4s during virtually all processes that involve DNA and RNA. DEAH-Box helicase 36 (DHX36), a member of the large DExD/H box helicase family, enzymatically unwinds both G4 DNA and G4 RNA. By exerting its G4 helicase function, DHX36 regulates transcription, genomic stability, telomere maintenance, translation and RNA metabolism. This review will provide an overview of G4s and DHX36, including DHX36’s potential role in neuronal development and neurodegeneration. We conclude with a discussion of the possible functions of G4s and DHX36 in the aging brain.