Netropsin (also termed congocidine or sinanomycin) is a polyamide with antibiotic and antiviral activity. It belongs to the class of pyrrole-amidine antibiotics. See also [1].
Netropsin binds to the minor groove of AT-rich sequences of double stranded DNA. In contrast, netropsin does not bind single stranded DNA or double stranded RNA. Crystallographic structures of DNA-bound Netropsin have been obtained and elucidate details of how the drug binds in the minor groove. In the bound structure, the drug makes hydrogen bonding interactions with four subsequent base pairs of the DNA duplex, locally displacing the water molecules of the spine of hydration.
