Biochem/physiol Actions
Lovastatin is a cholesterol lowering drug and competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, a rate limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. Blocks the production of mevalonate, a critical compound in the production of cholesterol and isoprenoids. This product is a substrate of Pgp and CYP3A. It increases cellular resistance to anticancer agents such as doxorubicin and induces apoptosis in myeloma cells. The roles of Pgp and CYP3A, possible connection between drug resistance, regulation of the mevalonate pathway, and iosprenylation of signaling proteins in these observations remain to be resolved. The product induces apoptosis in numerous cancer cell lines perhaps, in part, by inhibiting the isoprenylation of Rho family GTPases. It causes cell cycle arrest in G1 and G2/M phases.