Identification of Inhibitors of Cholesterol Transport Proteins Through the Synthesis of a Diverse, Sterol-Inspired Compound Collection

Cholesterol transport proteins regulate a vast array of cellular processes including lipid metabolism, vesicular and nonvesicular trafficking, organelle contact sites, and autophagy. Despite their undoubted importance, the identification of selective modulators of this class of proteins has been challenging due to the structural similarities in the cholesterol-binding site.

Herein we report a general strategy for the identification of selective inhibitors of cholesterol transport proteins via the synthesis of a diverse sterol-inspired compound collection. Fusion of a primary sterol fragment to an array of secondary privileged scaffolds led to the identification of potent and selective inhibitors of the cholesterol transport protein Aster-C, which displayed a surprising preference for the unnatural sterol AB-ring stereochemistry, and new inhibitors of Aster-A.

We propose that this strategy can, and should be applied to any therapeutically relevant sterol-binding protein.