Yunxia Han, Tong Cui, Xueli Wang, Menghui Jia, Haifeng Pan, and Jinquan Chen*

Cite this article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjsc.2026.101111

Publication date:

Keywords: G-quadruplex DNA; Femtosecond time-resolved circularly polarized luminescence; Chiral binding sites; Topological configurations; Transient absorption spectroscopy

ABSTRACT

Precisely detecting the chirality at the binding sites determined by the topological structure of G-quadruplex (G4) DNA is of paramount importance for uncovering the ligand-triggered conformational selection mechanisms and elucidating the structure-property relationship of G4 DNA. However, due to the dynamics structural nature of G4 DNA itself, real-time sensing the chirality at the binding sites in G4 DNA is challenge. Herein, we present a pioneering approach to conduct in-depth investigations on the chirality at the binding sites of G4 DNAs with parallel, hybrid, and antiparallel topological configurations by using femtosecond time-resolved circularly polarized luminescence (fs-TRCPL) spectroscopy combined with femtosecond transient absorption (fs-TA) spectroscopy. We unveiled that all three types of G4 DNAs possess two chiral active binding cites, resulting in the generation of characteristic circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) signals and time-dependent emission dissymmetry factors (glum(t)).