Androst-5-Ene-7,17-dione: A novel class of suicide substrate of aromatase

Abstract

5-En-7-one steroid 1 was found to be a potent inhibitor of aromatase. This along with its 19-hydroxy derivative 7 was characterized as suicide substrate of human placental aromatase (k(inact)'s of 0.069 and 0.058 min-1 and KI's of 143 nM and 11.1 microM, respectively, for steroids 1 and 7). The results suggest that the 19-oxygenation would be involved in the irreversible inactivation of aromatase by the 5-en-7-one steroids.