Sequence-Specific PI Polyamides Make It Possible to Regulate DNA Structure and Function

As part of our research over the past 20 years, we have designed sequence-specific DNA-binding ligands that are based on the chemical molecular recognition of bases in nucleic acids. The DNA minor groove-binding molecules, N-methyl-pyrrole (P), and N-methylimidazole (I) polyamides, have been developed to regulate the specific gene expression or high-order DNA structures and visualize specific DNA sequences in cells. The binding properties of PI polyamides were designed to target specific sequences for various chemical applications. The development of PI polyamides may be useful when applying the vast base sequence information obtained from recent genomic-level research.