Topological effects of charge transfer in telomere G-quadruplex: Mechanism on telomerase activation and inhibition

Abstract

We explore charge transfer in the telomere G-Quadruplex (TG4) DNA theoretically by the nonequilibrium Green's function method, and reveal the topological effect of charge transport in TG4 DNA. The consecutive TG4(CTG4) is semiconducting with 0.2 ~ 0.3eV energy gap. Charges transfers favorably in the consecutive TG4, but are trapped in the non-consecutive TG4 (NCTG4). The global conductance is inversely proportional to the local conductance for NCTG4. The topological structure transition from NCTG4 to CTG4 induces abruptly ~ 3nA charge current, which provide a microscopic clue to understand the telomerase activated or inhibited by TG4. Our findings reveal the fundamental property of charge transfer in TG4 and its relationship with the topological structure of TG4.