Cyclic Triimidazoles as Stabilizers for Gene Promoter and Human Telomeric DNA G-Quadruplexes

The synthesis and characterization of a small series of cyclic triimidazole derivatives functionalized with methylated pyridine or guanidine moieties is reported. These compounds were tested for their ability to bind to G-quadruplexes from both telomeric and oncogene promoter sequences. Some of them exhibited high affinity and effective G-quadruplex-stabilizing properties. Overall, these compounds may represent useful leads for developing more potent and selective analogues.