2019) Exploring the activity of polyamine analogues on polyamine and spermine oxidase: methoctramine, a potent and selective inhibitor of polyamine oxidase, Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 34:1, 740-752, ABSTRACT Fourteen polyamine analogues, asymmetric or symmetric substituted spermine (1-9) or methoctramine (10-14) analogues, were evaluated as potential inhibitors or substrates of two enzymes of the polyamine catabolic pathway, spermine oxidase (SMOX) and acetylpolyamine oxidase (PAOX). Compound 2 turned out to be the best substrate for PAOX, having the highest affinity and catalytic efficiency with respect to its physiological substrates. Methoctramine (10), a well-known muscarinic M 2 receptor antagonist, emerged as the most potent competitive PAOX inhibitor known so far (K i ¼ 10 nM), endowed with very good selectivity compared with SMOX (K i ¼1.2 lM vs SMOX). The efficacy of methoctramine in inhibiting PAOX activity was confirmed in the HT22 cell line. Methoctramine is a very promising tool in the design of drugs targeting the polyamine catabolism pathway, both to understand the physio-pathological role of PAOX vs SMOX and for pharmacological applications, being the polyamine pathway involved in various pathologies.
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