Cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitors structure

HV158 Qureshi A. A., W. C. Burger, D. M. Peterson, and C. E. Elson. The structure of an inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis isolated from barley. J Biol Chem 1986 261(23) 10544-10550. 

Research on the pathway of cholesterol biosynthesis led to the development of a new class of drugs called statins. All statins, including atorvastatin (Lipitor, 2.22) and rosuvastatin (Crestor, 2.23), are inhibitors of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase (Figure 2.6). Structurally, the acid side chain found on statin drugs closely resembles mevalonic acid (2.18). The side chain plays an important role in the binding of statins to HMG-CoA reductase. 

Competitive inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-controlling enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis. Note the similarity in structures. 

A structurally related HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor was later. shown to cause a statistically significant decrease in deaths due to coronary heart disease. This result validated the benefits oflowering serum cholesterol levels. Further mechanistic analysis revealed that the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor acts not only by lowering the rate of cholesterol biosynthesis, but also by inducing the expression of the low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (p. 745). Cells with such receptors remove LDL particles from the bloodstream, and so these particles cannot contribute to atheroma. 

Lovastatin is a member of a class of drugs (atorvastatin and simvastatin are others in this class) called statins that are used to treat hypercholesterolemia. The statins act as competitive inhibitors of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. These molecules mimic the structure of the normal substrate of the enzyme (HMG-CoA) and act as transition state analogues. While the statins are bound to the enzyme, HMG-CoA cannot be converted to mevalonic acid, thus inhibiting the whole cholesterol biosynthetic process. Recent studies indicate that there may be important secondary effects of statin therapy because some of the medical benefits of statins are too rapid to be a result of decreasing atherosclerotic lesions. Statin therapy has been associated with reduced risks of dementia, Alzheimer disease, ischemic cerebral stroke, and other diseases that are not correlated with high cholesterol levels. Although this is still an active area of research, it appears that the pleiotropic effects of statins may be a result of a reduction in the synthesis of isoprenoid intermediates that are formed in the pathway of cholesterol biosynthesis. 

The squalestatins, e.g. 6.28, also known as the zaragozic adds, have attracted considerable interest as inhibitors of squalene synthase and hence of cholesterol biosynthesis and lipid deposition in the circulatory system. They are also inhibitors of farnesyl protein transferase and thus they may have other potentially useful biological applications. They are formed by Phoma spedes and also by Setosphaeria khartoumensis. The squalestatins are characterized by a dioxabicyclo-octane core bearing three carboxyl groups and two polyketide chains, one of which is attached as an ester. The biosynthetic incorporation of succinic acid into part of the bicyclo-octane, together with its oxygenation pattern, indicate that it may be derived via oxaloacetic acid. Both the polyketide chains have several pendant methyl groups attached to them, which arise from methionine, whilst benzoic add ads as a starter unit for one of the chains. These complex structures are thus the summation of several biosynthetic pathways. 

Roth BD, Ortwine DF, Hoefle ML, et al. Inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis. 1. trans-6-(2-Pyrrol-1-ylethyl)-4-hydroxypyran-2-ones, a novel series of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. 1. Effects of structural modifications at the 2-and 5-positions of the pyrrole nucleus. J Med Chem 1990 33 21-31. 

Figure 1 Bulk drugs from natural sources Paclitaxel (antileukemic and antitumor) and lovastatin (inhibitor of cholesterol biosynthesis) are examples of the diverse and complex structures made by plant and microbial cell biosyntheses, respectively. In most instances of such compounds having desirable biological activities, their structural and chiral complexities make chemical synthesis not competitive with isolation from biosynthesis.

Lovastatin, because a part of its structure resembles mevalonate ion, can apparently bind at the active site ot HMGA-CoA-reductase and act as a competitive inhibitor ot this enzyme and thereby reduce cholesterol biosynthesis. 

After the first successful attempts in 1928 to identify the active biochemicals found in antibacterial molds, followed the rediscovery of penicillin by Fleming, identification of its chemical structure by Hodgkin, and subsequent synthesis by Chain, Heatley, and Florey, which led to the commercial production of penicillin in the mid 1940s [1], Since then, other families of (3-lactam antibiotics have been developed [2, 3], and their massive use worldwide continues to be a forefront line of action against infectious pathogens [4-6]. In recent years, (3-lactams have found other biomedical applications, such as inhibitors of serine protease ([7, 8] for a review, see [9]) and inhibitors of acyl-CoA cholesterol acyltransferasa (ACAT) [10]. Encouraged by their bioactivity, the synthesis and chemistry of (3-lactam antibiotics have been the focus of active research, and chemical modification of some basic structures available from biosynthesis (semisynthetic approaches) as well as the discovery of fully chemical routes to de novo synthesis of (3-lactam... 

Svoboda and co-workers (Svoboda and Robbins, 1967 1968 Svoboda et al., 1967 1969) found that triparanol, 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-l-[4-(2-diethylamino-ethoxy)phenyl]-l-(4-tolyl) ethanol and 22,25-diazacholesterol (99) inhibit sterol reductase and also disrupt the normal growth and development of the larvae of tobacco homworm, Manduca sexta. Both compounds are known as inhibitors of steroid biosynthesis in vertebrates. 22,25-DiazacholesteroI is a hypocholeste-rolaemic agent acting as a competitive antagonist of cholesterol. A similar activity was found later for 25-azacholesterol (100). For the determination of the minimum structural requirements of activity, Svoboda and Robbins synthesised and tested... 

C24H36O5, Mr 404.55, cryst., mp. 174°C, [a] +323° (CH3CN), a polyketide. M. is a potent inhibitor (K,= 1 nM) of HMG-CoA-reductase, the key enzyme in the biosynthesis of higher terpenes and steroids such as, e. g., cholesterol. It is produced by Aspergillus terreus and various Monascus species. Thus, e. g., the plasma cholesterol concentration (a major risk factor for the occurrence of arteriosclerosis) decreases by ca. 50% in patients under medication with M. In the terpene metabolism HMG-CoA-reductase reduces 3-hydroxy-3-methy Iglutary 1-CoA to mevalonate. M. mimics the substrate and thus leads to inhibition of the enzyme. M. is commercially available under the tradename Meva-cor . M. was the lead structure for numerous synthetic HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitors that are now available or are being developed (Atorvastatin, Cerivastatin, Fluvastatin, Pravastatin, Simvastatin). In these derivatives the hexahydronaphthalene structure is replaced by heterocylic ring systems, see also compactin. 

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