Journal of Biochemistry Advance Access published online on June 8, 2009
Journal of Biochemistry, doi:10.1093/jb/mvp088
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Identification and characterization of a selective radioligand for ELOVL6
1Department of Metabolic Disorder, Tsukuba Research Institute, Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Okubo 3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2611, Japan
2Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Tsukuba Research Institute, Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Okubo 3, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2611, Japan
3Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA
To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dr. Shigeru Tokita, PhD.,: Tsukuba Research Institute, Banyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Okubo 3,Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 300-2611, JAPAN Tel: +81-29-877-2000, Fax: +81-29-877-2027, E-mail: shigeru_tokita{at}merck.com
Received May 1, 2009; Accepted June 1, 2009
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ELOVL6, a member of the elongation of very long chain fatty acids (ELOVL) family, has recently been identified as the rate-limiting enzyme for the elongation of palmitoyl-CoA. ELOVL6 deficient mice are protected from high-fat diet induced insulin resistance, suggesting that ELOVL6 might be a promising target for the treatment of metabolic disorders. Despite the increasing interest in Elovl6 as a therapeutic target, the lack of chemical tools for this enzyme has limited further elucidation of the biochemical and pharmacological properties of ELOVL6. We have identified Compound-A, a potent inhibitor for ELOVL6, by screening our company library and subsequently optimizing hit compounds. Compound-A potently inhibited human and mouse ELOVL6 and displayed more than 100-fold greater selectivity for ELOVL6 over other ELOVL family members. Consistent with its potent and selective inhibitory activity toward ELOVL6, [3H]Compound-A bound to ELOVL6 with high affinity while showing no specific binding to other ELOVL enzymes. The observation that [3H]Compound-A bound to ELOVL6 in a palmitoyl-CoA dependent manner in the absence of malonyl-CoA and NADPH suggests that Compound-A might recognize an enzyme-substrate complex e.g. an acyl-enzyme intermediate. Collectively, these observations demonstrate that Compound-A and its tritiated form are useful tools for biochemical and pharmacological characterization of ELOVL6.