We have previously reported that the imino sugar N-butyldeoxynojirimycin (NB-DNJ) inhibits
glycolipid biosynthesis, in addition to its known activity as an inhibitor of the N-linked
oligosaccharide processing enzyme alpha-glucosidase I. In an attempt to dissociate these
two activities and identify an inhibitor which was more selective for the glycolipid
biosynthetic pathway, several imino sugars have been N-alkylated and tested for inhibitory
activity. The galactose analogue N-butyldeoxygalactonojirimycin (NB-DGJ) was found to be …