Farnesyloxycoumarins, a new class of squalene-hopene cyclase inhibitors

A few naturally occurring prenyl- and prenyloxycoumarins and several new related synthetic derivatives were evaluated as inhibitors of squalene-hopene cyclase (SHC), a useful model enzyme, to predict their interactions with oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC). Umbelliprenin-10′,11′-monoepoxide (IC50 2.5 μM) and the corresponding 6′,7′-10′,11′ diepoxide (IC50 1.5 μM) were the most active enzyme inhibitors.