The design, synthesis, and use of cyclic compounds, including cyclic polyamides, is described. Such compounds comprise at least two polymer portions, one of which comprises at least three molecular units, and the other comprises at least four molecular units. At least one molecular unit of such a compound is a hydrogen bond donor or acceptor. The polymer portions are covalently linked to form a cycle. These compounds are capable of targeting specific nucleotide sequences in double-stranded nucleic acids, particularly double-stranded DNA. Accordingly, such compounds can be used to modulate, e.g., increase or decrease, the expression of one or more genes in vitro or in vivo.
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