Swainsonine lysosomal inhibitor

Swainsonine (1) is of great biochemical interest since it is a potent and specific inhibitor of both lysosomal a-mannosidase and mannosidase II, which are involved in the cellular degradation of polysaccharides and in the processing of asparagine-linked glycoproteins, respectively [1]. 

Since mannosido.se results from a genetically derrved absence of lysosomal a-mannosidase that leads to an accumulation of mannose-rich oligosaccharides, the effects of swainsonine (1) on this enzyme were investigated. The alkaloid, which bears a structural resemblance to the open-chain form of D-man nose (2), was in fact shown to be a reversible inhibitor of lysosomal a-mannosidase.8... 

A detailed spectroscopic study has shown that swainsonine, from Swainsona canescens (Benth.) A. Lee, is 8a/3-indolizidine-la,2a,8 3-triol (1), and the structure and relative configuration have been confirmed by X-ray crystallography.1 Swainsonine is a potent inhibitor of a-mannosidase, and in animals it produces an accumulation of mannose-rich oligosaccharides in the lysosomal system of cells, leading to organ dysfunction and clinical disease.1... 

The pronounced and diverse biological activity of (- )-swainsonine (162) stems from its potency as an inhibitor of a-mannosidases, and its consequent ability to alter the course of glycoprotein processing. Mannosidases partially or wholly characterized during, or detected in, recent inhibition studies with the alkaloid include a-D-mannosidases in the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi 145,146) and in various insects 147,148), a murine lysosomal a-mannosidase 149), and a-mannosidases 1 and II from Vigna umbellata (rice beans) 150). The alkaloid was used to differentiate... 

A number of mannosidase inhibitors have been isolated from various plants and fungi, and the specificity and activity of many of these inhibitors has been outlined in Table 1. The first glycoprotein processing inhibitor to be identified was the in-dolizidine alkaloid, swainsonine whose structure is presented in Figure 1B. Swain-sonine was shown to specifically inhibit plant and animal mannosidase II [78]. This alkaloid also inhibits lysosomal a-mannosidase and jack bean a-mannosidase, but... 

---