Structure and Functions of RNA G-quadruplexes

G-quadruplexes (G4s) are four-stranded nucleic acid secondary structures that are formed by the stacking of square planar guanine arrangements and stabilized by favorable cations. Potential G4-forming sequences are distributed in the regulatory regions of the genome and transcriptome. G4s are proposed to modulate various physiological and pathophysiological cellular processes. As such RNA G4s (rG4s) have been implicated in several key processes of gene regulation such as RNA maturation, mRNA translation, and RNA transport. rG4s often impact cellular biology by associating different RNA binding proteins, both of which could act as crucial therapeutic targets in the fight for developing novel therapeutics for the diseases associated with rG4-containing transcripts.