Some clinical examples of suicide inhibitors include: •
Disulfiram, which inhibits the
acetaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme. •
Aspirin, which inhibits
cyclooxygenase 1 and 2 enzymes. •
Clavulanic acid, which inhibits
β-lactamase: clavulanic acid covalently bonds to a serine residue in the active site of the β-lactamase, restructuring the clavulanic acid molecule, creating a much more reactive species that attacks another amino acid in the active site, permanently inactivating it, and thus inactivating the enzyme β-lactamase. •
Penicillin, which inhibits
DD-transpeptidase from building bacterial
cell walls. •
Sulbactam, which prohibits penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria from metabolizing penicillin. •
AZT (zidovudine) and other chain-terminating
nucleoside analogues used to inhibit
HIV-1 reverse transcriptase in the treatment of
HIV/AIDS. •
Eflornithine, one of the drugs used to treat
sleeping sickness, is a suicide inhibitor of
ornithine decarboxylase. •
Nerve agent and related pesticides such as
parathion are organophosphorus suicide inhibitors of
acetylcholinesterase with aging times dependent on the
lability of leaving groups present on the organophosphorus moiety of the molecule. •
5-fluorouracil acts as a suicide inhibitor of
thymidylate synthase during the synthesis of
thymine from
uridine. This reaction is crucial for the proliferation of cells, particularly those that are rapidly proliferating (such as fast-growing cancer tumors). By inhibiting this step, cells die from a
thymineless death because they have no thymine to create more DNA. This is often used in combination with
methotrexate, a potent inhibitor of
dihydrofolate reductase enzyme. •
O6-Benzylguanine, a drug which depletes
O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase by virtue of its similarity to the DNA repair protein's target lesion. •
Exemestane, a drug used in the treatment of breast cancer, is an inhibitor of the
aromatase enzyme. •
Selegiline, although in the attached reference the compound is called a 'suicide inactivator' (not inhibitor). •
Vigabatrin, an
anticonvulsant, is a suicide inhibitor of
GABA-T. •
Phenelzine acts as a suicide inactivator/inhibitor of
monoamine oxidase A and
B ==Rational drug design==