biostudies-literatureMunde MNIAID NIH HHSNational Institutes of HealthNIGMS NIH HHS847-64https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC2988403biostudies-literatureUnknown402(5)With the increasing number and variations of genome sequences available, control of gene expression with synthetic, cell-permeable molecules is within reach. The variety of sequence-specific binding agents is, however, still quite limited. Many minor groove binding agents selectivity recognize AT over GC sequences but have less ability to distinguish among different AT sequences. The goal with this article is to develop compounds that can bind selectively to different AT sequences. A number of studies indicate that AATT and TTAA sequences have significantly different physical and interaction properties and different requirements for minor groove recognition. Although it has been difficult to get minor groove binding at TTAA, DB293, a phenyl-furan-benzimidazole diamidine, was found to bind Journal of molecular biologyDNA minor groove induced dimerization of heterocyclic cations: compound structure, binding affinity, and specificity for a TTAA site.PMC2988403AI064200R01 AI064200GM61587R01 GM061587Stephens CEBatista-Parra ADavid-Cordonnier MHIsmail MANhili RDepauw SFarahat AABoykin DWMunde MKumar AWilson WDfalseDNA minor groove induced dimerization of heterocyclic cations: compound structure, binding affinity, and specificity for a TTAA site.With the increasing number and variations of genome sequences available, control of gene expression with synthetic, cell-permeable molecules is within reach. The variety of sequence-specific binding agents is, however, still quite limited. Many minor groove binding agents selectivity recognize AT over GC sequences but have less ability to distinguish among different AT sequences. The goal with this article is to develop compounds that can bind selectively to different AT sequences. A number of studies indicate that AATT and TTAA sequences have significantly different physical and interaction properties and different requirements for minor groove recognition. Although it has been difficult to get minor groove binding at TTAA, DB293, a phenyl-furan-benzimidazole diamidine, was found to bind 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z2010 Oct2025-04-05T00:26:11.617Z2019-03-27T00:36:47ZS-EPMC29884032071306210.1016/j.jmb.2010.08.018