Effects of triethylene tetraamine on the G-quadruplex structure in the human c-myc promoter

The increasing data show that a parallel G-quadruplex structure formed by the element of nuclease-hypersensitivity element III1 (NHE III1) in the P1 promoter of c-myc functions as a transcriptional repressor. Triethylene tetraamine has exhibited interesting properties of stabilizing both inter- and intra-molecular G-quadruplex structures and telomerase-inhibitory potency. Here, we present evidences showing that triethylene tetraamine facilitates the formation of G-quadruplex structure by the NHE III1 element, and inhibits the expression of c-myc in HeLa cells.