Synthesis, DNA binding and biological evaluation of synthetic precursors and novel analogs of netropsin

A series of oligopeptides have been synthesized that are structurally related to the natural agent netropsin. The binding constants to double-stranded polynucleotides as well as the cytostatic activity against both murine human tumor cell lines and the in vitro activity against a range of DNA and RNA viruses have been determined for these novel compounds and some of their synthetic precursors. 1-Methyl-5-nitropyrrole-2-carboxylic acid methyl ester (4), N-[[1-methyl-4-(1-methyl-4-nitropyrrole-2-carboxamido)pyrrol-2- yl]carbonyl]-L-alanine tert-butyl ester (28), and N-[[1-methyl-4-(1-methyl-4-nitropyrrole-2-carboxamido)pyrrol-2- yl]carbonyl]-L-alanyl-L-alanine tert-butyl ester (29) showed modest inhibitory effect on tumor cell proliferation (CD50 = 26-85 micrograms/mL). Of all the compounds that were evaluated, 28 proved the most potent antiviral agent. It was inhibitory to parainfluenza-3 virus and Coxsackie virus B4 in Vero cells at a concentration of 20 micrograms/mL.