Synthesis of a chemiluminescent probe useful for the purification of steroid 5α-reductase

Steroid 5α-reductase is a system of two isozymes (5αR-1 and 5αR-2), which is related to several human diseases. The synthesis of a chemiluminescent probe (AZA-LU) useful for purification of 5αR is described. AZA-LU has a chemiluminescence detectable up to 10−15 M and is a good inhibitor (IC50 = 0.5 μM) for rat 5αR-1 expressed in transformed Saccharomicyes cerevisiae yeast. Incubation of AZA-LU with yeast lysates, followed by SDS-PAGE, led to the detection of two luminescent protein regions with estimated molecular weights of 26 kDa and 21 kDa.