Synthesis and biological activity of optically active NCL-1, a lysine-specific demethylase 1 selective inhibitor.

We synthesized optically active NCL-1, a lysine-specific demethylase 1 inhibitor, and evaluated its biological activity. In enzyme assays, the (1S,2R)-isomer was approximately four times more potent than the (1R,2S)-isomer. In cell-based assays, the two isomers showed similar activity in HEK293 cells and SH-SY5Y cells, whereas the (1S,2R)-isomer showed approximately four times more potent activity than the (1R,2S)-isomer in HeLa cells.