tetrastrand
English
Etymology
From tetra- + strand.
Noun
tetrastrand (plural tetrastrands)
- (molecular biology, often attributive) A macromolecular structure composed of four strands (nucleotide chains).
- 1992, Konstantin Salnikow, Anatoly Zhitkovich, Max Costa, “Analysis of the binding sites of chromium to DNA and protein in vitro and in intact cells”, in Carcinogenesis, volume 13, number 12, DOI:, page 2341:
- One in vitro study suggested that trivalent Cr may have some base specificity in its reactivity; however, this was probably due to the nature of the ribopolymers that were examined since the polymer with higher reactivity formed tetrastrands and was compared with a polymer that did not form tetrastrands (14). Therefore, the higher binding of Cr to guanine may be due to the tetrastrand nature of the ribopolymers that were studied since Cr(III) probably reacted on a molar basis with the phosphate (14).