Merck, U3633-25MG, U 18666A

General description
U18666A, a cationic amphiphile/sterol, has a diethylaminoethyl chain linked to the 3-hydroxyl. It is an androstenolone derivative.
Application
U 18666A has been used in fibroblast controls to study the mechanism of increase in autophagy in Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) cells.
U 18666A has been used:
as a competitive inhibitor of the Niemann-Pick disease, type C (NPC2) binding partner Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) to treat symbiotic and aposymbiotic adult Aiptasia to study the effect of global sterol transport inhibition
in treating seminiferous tubules to study its effects on the localization pattern of VPS35-positive vesicles
to study the U18666A treatment effects on early endosomes and late endosomes/multivesicular bodies (MVBs)
as an NPC1 inhibitor to test its in vivo efficacy and study its effects on filovirus entry and infection

Biochem/physiol Actions
Inhibitor of cholesterol synthesis (inhibits desmosterol Δ24-reductase). Weak inhibitor of hedgehog (hh) signaling.
U18666A, a Niemann-Pick phenotype inducer, can inhibit the lysosomal cholesterol export and Ebola infection.
Preparation Note
U 18666A is soluble in water at 10 mg/ml.