Schizostatin, a Novel Squalene Synthase Inhibitor Produced by the Mushroom, Schizophyllum commune

I. Taxonomy, Fermentation, Isolation, Physico-chemical Properties and Biological Activities

Abstract

In the process of screening for squalene synthase inhibitors from microbial fermentation products we have isolated a novel compound, named schizostatin (Fig. 1), from the culture broth of the mushroom, Schizophyllum commune SANK 17785. Schizostatin inhibited rat liver microsomal squalene synthase dose dependently and the IC₅₀ value was 0.84μM. The inhibition was competitive with respect to farnesylpyrophosphate with a Ki value of 0.45 μM.