Improved Antiviral Activity of a Polyamide Against High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Via N-Terminal Guanidinium Substitution.

We report the synthesis of two novel pyrrole-imidazole polyamides with N-terminal guanidinium or tetramethylguanidinium groups and evaluate their antiviral activity against three cancer-causing human papillomavirus strains. Introduction of guanidinium improves antiviral activity when compared to an unsubstituted analog, especially in IC90 values. These substitutions change DNA-binding preferences, while binding affinity remains unchanged.