Curtis, Edward A.Liu, David2016-06-282013Curtis, Edward A., and David R. Liu. 2013. Discovery of widespread GTP-binding motifs in genomic DNA and RNA. Chemistry & Biology 20, no. 4: 521–532. doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2013.02.015.1074-5521http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:27409154Biological RNAs that bind small-molecules have been implicated in a variety of regulatory and catalytic processes. Inspired by these examples, we used in vitro selection to search a pool of genomeencoded RNA fragments for naturally occurring GTP aptamers. Several classes of aptamers were identified, including one ("the G motif") with a G-quadruplex structure. Further analysis revealed that most RNA and DNA G-quadruplexes bind GTP. The G motif is abundant in eukaryotes, and the human genome contains ∼75,000 examples with dissociation constants comparable to the GTP concentration of a eukaryotic cell (∼300 μM). G-quadruplexes play roles in diverse cellular processes, and our findings raise the possibility that GTP may play a role in the function of these elements. Consistent with this possibility, the sequence requirements of several classes of regulatory G-quadruplexes parallel those of GTP binding.en-USJournal Article2016-06-2810.1016/j.chembiol.2013.02.015