NUCLEOSIDES, NUCLEOTIDES & NUCLEIC ACIDS

Abstract

Synthetic polycarboxamide minor groove binders (MGB) consisting of N-methylpyrrole (Py), N-methylimidazole (Im), N-methyl-3-hydroxypyrrole (Hp) and balanine (b) show strong and sequence-specific interaction with the DNA minor groove in side-by-side antiparallel or parallel orientation. Two MGB moieties covalently linked to the same terminal phosphate of one DNA strand stabilize DNA duplexes formed by this strand with a complementary one in a sequence-specific manner, similarly to the corresponding mono-conjugated hairpin structures. The series of conjugates with the general formula Oligo-(L-MGB-R)m was synthesized, where *Correspondence: Alexandre S. Boutorine, Ph.D., Regulation et Dynamique des Genomes, Laboratoire de Biophysique, USM 0503, INSERM U565—CNRS UMR 5153, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 43 rue Cuvier, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France; Fax: [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail]. 789 DOI: 10.1081/NCN-120039358 1525-7770 (Print); 1532-2335 (Online) Copyright D 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com D ow nl oa de d by [ In st itu te o f C he m ic al B io lo gy & F un da m en ta l M ed ic in e] a t 0 1: 48 2 6 Fe br ua ry 2 01 5