Development of the binding molecules for the RNA higher-order structures based on the guanine-recognition by the G-clamp

RNA higher-order structures play an important role for control of the gene expression, and the small molecules binding to these structures have potential to act as interfering agents in the RNA-mediated-pathway. In this study, we synthesized new RNA binding molecules based on the G-clamp structure and evaluated their binding properties using the model RNA. The monomeric G-clamp ligand exhibited a fluorescence quenching with RNA-binding. The dimeric G-clamp ligand showed a significant fluorescence OFF/ON response to the RNA hairpin structure containing the guanines, indicating a high affinity of the G-clamp dimer to two neighboring guanines located in the RNA hairpin loop.