Immunodetection experiment designed to visualise DNA quadruplexes and cell nuclei

Immunodetection experiment designed to visualise DNA quadruplexes, also known as G4s, (in red) and cell nuclei (in blue) in fixed human cells. Quadruplexes are non-usual DNA structures that offer an additional level of gene regulation. In contrast to the permanent double helix structure of DNA, the very dynamic structures of quadruplexes comprise four strands rotating around each other. G4s may form in no less than 716,000 locations in our genome. They may be involved in a number of biological processes that are indispensable to the correct operation of the cell, such as chromosome stability or DNA replication. This might explain their role in the development of several rare neurodegenerative or infectious diseases.