Iminosugars DAB (
5), isofagomine (
9), and several
N-substituted derivatives have been identified as potentinhibitors of liver glycogen phosphorylase a (IC
50 = 0.4-1.2
M) and of basal and glucagon-stimulatedglycogenolysis (IC
50 = 1-3
M). The X-ray structures of
5,
9, and its
N-3-phenylpropyl analogue
8 incomplex with rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase (GPb) shows that iminosugars bind tightly at the catalyticsite in the presence of the substrate phosphate and induce conformational changes that characterize theR-state conformation of the enzyme. Charged nitrogen N1 is within hydrogen-bonding distance with thecarbonyl oxygen of His377 (
5) and in ionic contact with the substrate phosphate oxygen (
8 and
9). Ourfindings suggest that the inhibitors function as oxocarbenium ion transition-state analogues. The conformationalchange to the R state provides an explanation for previous findings that
5, unlike inhibitors that favor theT state, promotes phosphorylation of GPb in hepatocytes with sequential inactivation of glycogen synthase.