Lanosterol synthase

About: Lanosterol synthase is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 164 publications have been published within this topic receiving 5954 citations. The topic is also known as: lanosterol synthase (2,3-oxidosqualene-lanosterol cyclase) & lanosterol synthase.

Epohelmins A and B, novel lanosterol synthase inhibitors from a fungal strain FKI-0929.

Abstract: From a fungal strain FKI-0929, two compounds designated epohelmins A and B, were isolated as new natural products with inhibitory activity against recombinant human lanosterol synthase. The crude extract from the whole broth of this strain was fractionated by silica gel column chromatography and HPLC to afford two isolated inhibitors. Detailed spectroscopic analyses led to the identification of their structures. They are diastereomers of 4,5-epoxy-2-(4'-oxoundec-(5'E)-enyl)-heptamethylenamines, and their relative stereochemical configurations were determined as (2R, 4R, 5R) or (2S, 4S, 5S) for epohelmin A, and (2R, 4S, 5R) or (2S, 4R, 5S) for epohelmin B, respectively. These compounds inhibited recombinant human lanosterol synthase with IC50 values of 10 and 6.0 microM, respectively.

Zebrafish etv7 regulates red blood cell development through the cholesterol synthesis pathway

Abstract: ETV7 is a human oncoprotein that cooperates with Eμ-MYC to promote pre-B-cell leukemia in mice. It is normally expressed in the bone marrow and fetal liver and is upregulated in primary leukemia, suggesting that it is involved in proper hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. ETV7 has been deleted in most rodents, but is conserved in all other vertebrates, including the zebrafish, Danio rerio. In this report, we characterize the function of the zebrafish etv7 gene during erythropoiesis. Our results demonstrate that etv7 regulates the expression of the zebrafish lanosterol synthase (lss) gene, an essential gene in the cholesterol synthesis pathway. Furthermore, morpholino knockdown of etv7 leads to loss of hemoglobin-containing red blood cells, a phenotype that can be rescued by injection of exogenous cholesterol. We conclude that etv7 is essential for normal red blood cell development through regulation of the lss gene and the cholesterol synthesis pathway.

A Single Oxidosqualene Cyclase Produces the Seco-Triterpenoid α-Onocerin.

Abstract: 8,14-seco-Triterpenoids are characterized by their unusual open C-ring. Their distribution in nature is rare and scattered in taxonomically unrelated plants. The 8,14-seco-triterpenoid α-onocerin is only known from the evolutionarily distant clubmoss genus Lycopodium and the leguminous genus Ononis, which makes the biosynthesis of this seco-triterpenoid intriguing from an evolutionary standpoint. In our experiments with Ononis spinosa, α-onocerin was detected only in the roots. Through transcriptome analysis of the roots, an oxidosqualene cyclase, OsONS1, was identified that produces α-onocerin from squalene-2,3;22,23-dioxide when transiently expressed in Nicotiana bethamiana In contrast, in Lycopodium clavatum, two sequential cyclases, LcLCC and LcLCD, are required to produce α-onocerin in the N. benthamiana transient expression system. Expression of OsONS1 in the lanosterol synthase knockout yeast strain GIL77, which accumulates squalene-2,3;22,23-dioxide, verified the α-onocerin production. A phylogenetic analysis predicts that OsONS1 branches off from specific lupeol synthases and does not group with the known L. clavatum α-onocerin cyclases. Both the biochemical and phylogenetic analyses of OsONS1 suggest convergent evolution of the α-onocerin pathways. When OsONS1 was coexpressed in N. benthamiana leaves with either of the two O. spinosa squalene epoxidases, OsSQE1 or OsSQE2, α-onocerin production was boosted, most likely because the epoxidases produce higher amounts of squalene-2,3;22,23-dioxide. Fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy analysis demonstrated specific protein-protein interactions between OsONS1 and both O. spinosa squalene epoxidases. Coexpression of OsONS1 with the two OsSQEs suggests that OsSQE2 is the preferred partner of OsONS1 in planta. Our results provide an example of the convergent evolution of plant specialized metabolism.