I-motif DNA I-motif DNA i-motif DNA is a type of deoxyribonucleic acid, discovered in 2018, that is found in the nuclei of human cells. An abbreviation of intercalated motif, the four-strand i-motif is unlike the iconic double helix DNA. I-motifs are four-stranded quadruplex structures formed by cytosine-rich DNA, similar to the G-quadruplex structures that guanine-rich DNA forms. C-rich DNA regions are common in gene regulation portions of the genome. Recently, i-motifs were discovered in human cells and were shown to play a role in cell reproduction. I-motifs have potential applications in nanotechnology and nanomedicine due to their unique pH sensitivity and have
Single-cell DNA template strand sequencing cells are treated with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) which is then incorporated into their nascent DNA, acting as a substitute for thymidine. After at least one replication event has occurred, the daughter cells are synchronized at the G2 phase and individually separated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). The cells are directly sorted into lysis buffer and their DNA is extracted. Having been arrested at a specified number of generations (usually one), the inheritance patterns of sister chromatids can be assessed. The following methods concentrate on the DNA sequencing of a single daughter cell’s DNA. At this point the chromosomes are composed of