Glycosidase inhibitior; iminosugar analog of glucose. Binds to the active site of glucocerebrosidase, the lysosomal enzyme deficient in Gaucher's disease; acts as a pharmacological chaperone to improve stability and delivery of mutant forms of the enzyme. Prepn: T. M. Jespersen et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 33, 1778 (1994) DOI; eidem, Tetrahedron 50, 13449 (1994) DOI. Improved synthesis: H. Ouchi et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 45, 7053 (2004) DOI. Glycosidase inhibition profile: W. Dong et al., Biochemistry 35, 2788 (1996) DOI PubMed. Effect on glucocerebrosidase trafficking to the lysosome: R. A. Steet et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 13813 (2006) DOI PubMed; J.-S. Shen et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 369, 1071 (2008) DOI PubMed.
In treatment of Gaucher's disease.