Lovastatin (MK-803) is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (IC50=3.4 nM). Lovastatin lowers cholesterol and is commonly used as a lipid-lowering agent in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

HMG-CoA reductase:3.4 nM

METHODS: PEL cell lines BC3 and BCBL1 were treated with Lovastatin (3-30 µM) for 24-48 h. Cell viability was measured using Trypan blue exclusion.
RESULTS: A dose- and time-dependent decrease in cell viability after Lovastatin treatment was observed in both PEL cell lines. [1]
METHODS: The human breast cancer cell lines MDAMB231 and MDAMB468 were treated with Lovastatin (8 µg/mL) for 48 h. The expression levels of target proteins were detected using Western Blot.
RESULTS: Several proteins involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and cell cycle activity present in breast cancer cells were significantly altered when exposed to Lovastatin. Changes in the expression of two cell cycle regulatory proteins, prohibitin and MCM7, which are associated with E2F activity, were also detected. [2]

METHODS: To assay antitumor activity in vivo, Lovastatin (25-50 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally to C3(1)/TAg transgenic mice in a breast cancer model three times per week for 4-12 weeks.
RESULTS: Four weeks of treatment with Lovastatin did inhibit precancerous mammary intraepithelial neoplasia (MIN) formation in vivo, but did not inhibit invasive carcinoma formation in a C3(1)/SV40-TAg transgenic model of mammary carcinomas. [3]

Hela cells are treated with lovastatin (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 μg/mL) for 24 h. Cells treated with culture medium serves as a negative control. cell viability is measured using the MTT based colorimetric assay [2].