PLA2-mediated catalytic activation of its inhibitor 25-acetyl-petrosaspongiolide M:: serendipitous identification of a new PLA2 suicide inhibitor

25-Acetyl-petrosaspongiolide M (PMAc) (1), a mild non-covalent PLA(2) inhibitor, unexpectedly recovers, after incubation with bvPLA(2), the ability to covalently modify the enzyme target. This study demonstrates the catalytic effect of bvPLA(2) in converting 1 in its deacetylated congener petrosaspongiolide M (PM) (2), a strong covalent PLA(2) inhibitor whose molecular mechanism of inhibition has already been clarified. Moreover, our findings outline the potential role of PMAc as anti-inflammatory pro-drug, by virtue of its ability of delivering the active PM agent at the site of inflammation, functioning as a suicide inhibitor. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.