Figure 1.

(a) Schematic representation of a generic nucleopeptide; (b) repetitive unit of a generic cationic nucleopeptide with backbone composed of free and nucleobase-bearing diamino acids; (c) H-bonding and ionic interactions between cationic nucleopeptides and complementary nucleic acids; (d) example of CD titration of a single-stranded DNA (dA₁₂) with a complementary homothymine nucleopeptide based on a L-diaminopropanoic acid (DAPA) backbone (oligoDapT) [1]; (e) comparison of melting curves and temperatures between the natural duplex DNA and the corresponding oligoDapT-nucleopeptide/DNA complex [1]. Atom with the symbol “ * ” represents a stereogenic center.