EFFECT OF SIDE-CHAIN STRUCTURE ON INHIBITION OF YEAST FATTY-ACID SYNTHASE BY CERULENIN ANALOGS

Yeast fatty-acid synthase (FAS) inhibition by cerulenin analogs with varying side-chain lengths was compared with that of cerulenin, tetrahydrocerulenin and iodoacetamide. Although inhibition by cerulenin was the highest, the analogs having (E,E)-DELTA7,10 double bonds showed high inhibition. This strongly suggests that the (E, E)-DELTA7,10 double bonds play an important role in the interaction of the inhibitors with the enzyme. It was suggested that the size of the hydrophobic cavity in the condensing enzyme terminates fatty-acid chain elongation by decreasing inhibition by the C18 analog. Like cerulenin itself, the shortest analog (C6) did not induce malonyl-CoA decarboxylase activity.