What are G-quadruplexes? In cells, nucleic acids are not simple linear polymers but adopt complex architectures – the classic Watson-Crick duplex and a variety of unusual folds. A fascinating structure is the G-quadruplex (G4). G-quadruplexes are a family of peculiar three-dimensional structural arrangements adopted by G-rich DNA and RNA strands, resulting from the stacking of several G-quartets, and stabilized by monocations such as sodium and potassium. The self-assembly of guanine derivatives has been known for more than a century, and the formation of G-quartets was proposed in the 1960s. Research into the relevance of G-quadruplexes has maintained an important momentum because these structures are stable under physiological conditions and there is increasing evidence pointing to biological roles for these conformations. The community of researchers interested in quadruplexes was initially comparable to the "fellowship of the Quartet", but has grown exponentially. A remarkable quantity of information has been obtained since the discovery of the G-quadruplex motif, which has made this field to grow from basic science to clinical applications. The pace of progress took another leap during the last decade, and quadruplexes changed status from lab curiosity to hot topic within a few years thanks to seminal contributions from several laboratories.

The International Meetings on Quadruplex Nucleic Acids, organized bi-annually since 2007, are the major conference series in the field of G-quadruplexes and guanosine self-assembly. It will be hard given the high standards set by Brad Chaires (Louisville, KY, USA 2007 & 2009), Antonio Randazzo & Concetta Giancola (Naples / Sorrento 2011) and Anh Tuan Phan & Marie-Paule Teulade-Fichou (Singapore, 2013 see http://www.g4meeting2013.com/). For those who did not attend any of the previous editions, Meeting reports have been published in Biochimie, C&E News and Embo Reports (see for example http://cen.acs.org/articles/85/i22/Ascent-Quadruplexes.html  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17901879, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19555734 or http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24120569).

NEW: MEETING REPORT OF THE 2016 EDITION: : http://www.cell.com/ccbio/pdf/S2451-9456(16)30047-2.pdf

Thanks to all of the 286 participants who made it to Bordeaux!

Pictures of the conference are now online: see the Picture Gallery!