Chemical modification and structure-activity relationships of pyripyropenes. 3. Synthetic conversion of pyridine-pyrone moiety

Structure-activity relationships of the pyridine-pyrone moiety in pyripyropene A (1), a potent acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) inhibitor of fungal origin, were studied. Several kinds of aromatic or hetero ring substituents for the pyridine moiety were synthesized using unique degradation reaction, following by γ-acylation. All the six synthesized analogs decreased the inhibitory activity with 20 to 200 times larger IC₅₀ values than that of 1. Furthermore, the pyridine-pyrone substituent also dramatically decrease the inhibitory activity. Thus, the pyridine-pyrone moiety is important for eliciting potent ACAT inhibition.