Quarfloxin (Quadruplexes in the clinic)

As I've mentioned before, I'm a booster for DNA G-quadruplexes as drug targets. While telomeres might not be the best target, there are lots of potentially oncogenically relevant quadruplexes. Here is the only quadruplex-targeting antineoplastic that's made it into the clinic that I know of.

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Quarfloxin, predictably, has a large aromatic surface area and a chirally disposed positive charge - perfect for targeting a groove or loop. It has shown great promise in early clinical work (it's currently in phase II) - I am rooting for the class!

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