Fig. 4From: Isoprenoids responsible for protein prenylation modulate the biological effects of statins on pancreatic cancer cellsScheme of the mevalonate pathway and isoprenoid synthesis. The mevalonate pathway (also known as the isoprenoid pathway) is an essential metabolic pathway in a human body producing a five-carbon building block called isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). IPP is used to make fully functional biomolecules belonging into a large group of isoprenoids. Two intermediates in this pathway, FPP and GGPP, play also an immense role in post-translational modification of signaling proteins involved in a wide array of cellular functions including proliferation, and also carcinogenesis. The whole mevalonate pathway begins with acetyl-CoA, the rate limiting enzymatic step is catalyzed by HMG-CoA reductase (a therapeutic target of statins), whose inhibition leads to depletion signaling isoprenoids. Continuous and dashed lines represent one and multistep reaction, respectively. HMG-CoA reductase can be blocked by statins (in red)Back to article page