G-quadruplex structures affect the immune response to bacterial infection in mouse macrophages.

Stabilizing G-quadruplexes with pyridostatin reduces NF-κB-dependent inflammatory gene expression in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mouse macrophages.

• Why it matters: Understanding how DNA secondary structures influence immune responses can reveal new strategies to control inflammation without impairing pathogen clearance, addressing gaps in knowledge about promoter selection mechanisms.
• What they did: The study used pyridostatin to stabilize G-quadruplexes in macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, analyzing effects on inflammation, transcription, and chromatin accessibility through chromatin profiling, ChIP, and in silico predictions.
• The result: G4 stabilization selectively represses NF-κB-driven cytokine and activation marker transcription by hindering promoter occupancy and prematurely shutting down transcription, suggesting G4s as targets to modulate macrophage activation.