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Progress and Prospects of Pyrrole‐Imidazole Polyamide–Fluorophore Conjugates as Sequence‐Selective DNA Probes
Author(s) -
Vaijayanthi Thangavel,
Bando Toshikazu,
Pandian Ganesh N.,
Sugiyama Hiroshi
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.201200451
Subject(s) - netropsin , fluorophore , dna , conjugate , combinatorial chemistry , conjugated system , chemistry , polyamide , sequence (biology) , biophysics , fluorescence , biochemistry , biology , polymer , organic chemistry , minor groove , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Abstract Recently, the versatility of N ‐methylpyrrole (Py)‐ N ‐methylimidazole (Im) polyamide conjugates, which have been developed from the DNA‐binding antibiotics distamycin A and netropsin, has been shown. These synthetic small molecules can permeate cells to bind with duplex DNA in a sequence‐specific manner, and hence can influence gene expression in vivo. Accordingly, several reports demonstrating the sequence specificity and biological activity of Py‐Im polyamides have accumulated. However, the benefits of Py‐Im polyamides, in particular those conjugated with fluorophores, has been overlooked. Moreover, clear directions for the employment of these attractive artificial small molecules have not yet been shown. Here, we present a detailed overview of the current and prospective applications of Py‐Im polyamide–fluorophore conjugates, including sequence‐specific recognition with fluorescence emission properties, and their potential roles in biological imaging.