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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Photoselective Vaporesection of the Prostate via an End-firing Lithium Triborate Crystal Laser
Published on: May 9, 2018
Co-crystallization of human inositol monophosphatase with the lithium mimetic L-690,330
Lucas Kraft1, S Mark Roe2, Raj Gill1
1Sussex Drug Discovery Centre, University of Sussex, Chichester II, Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QJ, England.
Lithium, which is still the gold standard in the treatment of bipolar disorder, has been proposed to inhibit inositol monophosphatase (IMPase) and is hypothesized to exert its therapeutic effects by attenuating phosphatidylinositol (PI) cell signalling. Drug-discovery efforts have focused on small-molecule lithium mimetics that would specifically inhibit IMPase without exhibiting the undesired side effects of lithium. L-690,330 is a potent bisphosphonate substrate-based inhibitor developed by Merck Sharp & Dohme. To aid future structure-based inhibitor design, determination of the exact binding mechanism of L-690,330 to IMPase was of interest. Here, the high-resolution X-ray structure of human IMPase in complex with L690,330 and manganese ions determined at 1.39 Å resolution is reported.
Lithium, which is still the gold standard in the treatment of bipolar disorder, has been proposed to inhibit inositol monophosphatase (IMPase) and is hypothesized to exert its therapeutic effects by attenuating phosphatidylinositol (PI) cell signalling. Drug-discovery efforts have focused on small-molecule lithium mimetics that would specifically inhibit IMPase without exhibiting the undesired side effects of lithium. L-690,330 is a potent bisphosphonate substrate-based inhibitor developed by Merck Sharp & Dohme. To aid future structure-based inhibitor design, determination of the exact binding mechanism of L-690,330 to IMPase was of interest. Here, the high-resolution X-ray structure of human IMPase in complex with L690,330 and manganese ions determined at 1.39 Å resolution is reported.
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