A compound comprising the atom corresponding to N3 and the two or more atoms selected from N1, N2, N4 and N5, said atoms constitute the pharmacophore represented by the following formula: wherein N1 represents an atom to which a donative hydrogen atom in a hydrogen-bond donating group is bonded or a hydrogen-bond accepting atom in a hydrogen-bond accepting group N3 represents a hydrogen-bond accepting atom in a hydrogen-bond accepting group and N2, N4 and N5 independently represents an arbitrary carbon atom constituting a hydrophobic group and defined by the interatomic distances between N1, N2, N3, N4 and N5 and, in the optimized three-dimensional structure thereof, the distances between the atom corresponding to N3 and the two or more atoms selected from N1, N2, N4 and N5, in the optimized steric structure thereof, are the interatomic distances in a pharmacophore or a salt thereof inhibits the activity of transcription factor AP-1 and is useful as an agent for preventing and treating the diseases into which overexpression of AP-1 participates and as an AP-1 inhibitor.
