This book presents a novel method of synthesizing sequence-specific DNA binding
pyrrole-imidazole (Py-Im) polyamides and demonstrates polyamides targeting longer base pairs
than those previously reported and their cellular application. It discusses the development of
the facile synthetic method of tandem hairpin Py-Im polyamides and the method of visualizing
telomeres under mild conditions without harsh denaturation as well as research resulting in
the synthesis not only of previously reported tandem dimer polyamides but also longer tandem
trimer and tetramer polyamides. Using fluorescently labeled tandem hairpin Py-Im polyamides
targeting a human telomere repetitive sequence the author successfully stained telomeres in
fixed cells without denaturation. These fluorescently labeled tandem tetramer polyamides are
able to visualize human telomeres with lower background signals than previous polyamide probes
suggesting that they have higher specificity for telomeres. As such thisbook provides insights
into recent advance in Py-Im polyamides particularly the extension of the target sites c
