Levosimendan inhibits disulfide tau oligomerization and ameliorates tau pathology in TauP301L-BiFC mice.

Tau oligomers play critical roles in tau pathology and are responsible for neuronal cell death and transmitting the disease in the brain. Accordingly, preventing tau oligomerization has become an important therapeutic strategy to treat tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease. However, progress has been slow because detecting tau oligomers in the cellular context is difficult. Working toward tau-targeted drug discovery, our group has developed a tau-BiFC platform to monitor and quantify tau oligomerization. By using the tau-BiFC platform, we screened libraries with FDA-approved and passed phase I drugs and identified levosimendan as a potent anti-tau agent that inhibits tau oligomerization. 14C-isotope labeling of levosimendan revealed that levosimendan covalently bound to tau cysteines, directly inhibiting disulfide-linked tau oligomerization. In addition, levosimendan disassembles tau oligomers into monomers, rescuing neurons from aggregation states. In comparison, the well-known anti-tau agents methylene blue and LMTM failed to protect neurons from tau-mediated toxicity, generating high-molecular-weight tau oligomers. Levosimendan displayed robust potency against tau oligomerization and rescued cognitive declines induced by tauopathy in the TauP301L-BiFC mouse model. Our data present the potential of levosimendan as a disease-modifying drug for tauopathies.

Design and Synthesis of a Novel 4-aryl-N-(2-alkoxythieno [2,3-b]pyrazine-3-yl)-4-arylpiperazine-1-carboxamide DGG200064 Showed Therapeutic Effect on Colon Cancer through G2/M Arrest.

Cancer cells are characterized by an abnormal cell cycle. Therefore, the cell cycle has been a potential target for cancer therapeutic agents. We developed a new lead compound, DGG200064 (7c) with a 2-alkoxythieno [2,3-b]pyrazine-3-yl)-4-arylpiperazine-1-carboxamide core skeleton. To evaluate its properties, compound DGG200064 was tested in vivo through a xenograft mouse model of colorectal cancer using HCT116 cells. The in vivo results showed high cell growth inhibition efficacy. Our results confirmed that the newly synthesized DGG200064 inhibits the growth of colorectal cancer cells by inducing G2/M arrest. Unlike the known cell cycle inhibitors, DGG200064 (GI50 = 12 nM in an HCT116 cell-based assay) induced G2/M arrest by selectively inhibiting the interaction of FBXW7 and c-Jun proteins. Additionally, the physicochemical properties of the lead compounds were analyzed. Based on the results of the study, we suggested further development of DGG200064 as a novel oral anti-colorectal cancer drug.

Traceless Solid-Phase Synthesis of 7-Aminothiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine-Based Library via Dimroth Rearrangement.

Thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine is one of the purine isosteres that possesses a variety of pharmaceutical activities and is an attractive scaffold for drug discovery. In this work, a novel protocol for the synthesis of 7-aminothiazolo[4,5,-d]pyrimidine scaffold libraries on solid support has been developed using a traceless linker. Dimroth rearrangement afforded the desired intermediate with a fused heterocyclic thiazolo[4,5,-d]pyrimidine core skeleton. To diversify the synthesized library, three types of building blocks were introduced to the resin-bound thiazolo[4,5,-d]pyrimidine through N-acylation, N-alkylation, and nucleophilic substitution with amines during cleavage from the resin. The synthesized compounds were produced in seven steps with overall yields of 11-48%. Additionally, physicochemical properties, as well as drug-likeness of the library, were calculated.

Heterocycles as a Peptidomimetic Scaffold: Solid-Phase Synthesis Strategies.

Peptidomimetics are a privileged class of pharmacophores that exhibit improved physicochemical and biological properties. Solid-phase synthesis is a powerful tool for gaining rapid access to libraries of molecules from small molecules to biopolymers and also is widely used for the synthesis of peptidomimetics. Small molecules including heterocycles serve as a core for hundreds of drugs, including peptidomimetic molecules. This review covers solid-phase synthesis strategies for peptidomimetics molecules based on heterocycles.

Traceless solid-phase synthesis and ß-turn propensity of 1,3-thiazole-based peptidomimetics.

The design and solid-phase synthesis of 1,3-thiazole-based peptidomimetic molecules is described. The solid-phase synthesis was based on the utilization of a traceless linker strategy. The synthesis starts from the conversion of chloromethyl polystyrene resin to the resin with a sulfur linker unit. The key intermediate 4-amino-thiazole-5-carboxylic acid resin is prepared in three steps from Merrifield resin. The amide coupling proceeded at the C4 and C5 positions via an Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis strategy. After cleavage, the final compounds were obtained in moderate yields (average 9%, 11-step overall yields) with high purities (≥87%). Geometric measurements of Cα distances and dihedral angles along with an rmsd of 0.5434 for attachment with Cα of the ß-turn template suggest type IV ß-turn structural motifs. Additionally, the physicochemical properties of the molecules have been evaluated.

Current Parallel Solid-Phase Synthesis of Drug-like Oxadiazole and Thiadiazole Derivatives for Combinatorial Chemistry.

Solid-phase organic synthesis is a powerful tool in the synthesis of small organic molecules and building of libraries of compounds for drug discovery. Heterocyclic compounds are important components of the drug discovery field as well and serve as a core for hundreds of marketed drugs. In particular, oxadiazole and thiadiazole cores are compounds of great interest due to their comprehensive biological activities and structural features. Therefore, a plethora of oxadiazole and thiadiazole synthesis methodologies have been reported to date, including solution and solid-phase synthesis methodologies. In this review, we concentrate on and summarize solid-phase synthetic approaches of the oxadiazole and thiadiazole derivatives.

Solid-Phase Parallel Synthesis of N-Substituted-2-aminothiazolo[4,5-b]pyrazine Derivatives via Tandem Reaction of Isothiocyanate Terminated Resin with o-Bromo-2-Aminopyrazines.

A novel solid-phase synthesis methodology of N-substituted-2-aminothiazolo[4,5-b]pyrazine derivatives was developed. The key step in this synthesis strategy is the tandem reaction of isothiocyanate terminated resin 2 with o-bromo-2-aminopyrazine, affording cyclized 2-aminothiazolo[4,5-b]pyrazine resin 4. To increase the diversity of our library, Suzuki coupling reaction was performed at the position C6. Further functionalization of 2-aminothiazolo[4,5-b]pyrazine core skeleton with various electrophiles such as alkyl halides, acyl chlorides, and sulfonyl chlorides and cleavage from the resin with TFA in DCM generated N-alkyl-, N-acyl-, and N-sulfonyl-2-aminothiazolo[4,5-b]pyrazine derivatives. The physicochemical properties and the polar surface areas of synthesized compounds were evaluated.

A Highly Efficient Diversification of 2-Amino/Amido-1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-Thiadiazole Derivatives via Reagent-Based Cyclization of Thiosemicarbazide Intermediate on Solid-Phase.

A 2-amino/amido-1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole library has been constructed on solid-phase organic synthesis. The key step on this solid-phase synthesis involves the preparation of polymer-bound 2-amino-1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole core skeleton resin by cyclization of thiosemicarbazide with EDC·HCl and p-TsCl, respectively. The resulting core skeleton undergoes functionalization reaction with various electrophiles such as alkyl halides, and acid chlorides to generate N-alkylamino and N-acylamino-1,3,4-oxadiazole, and 1,3,4-thiadiazole resin, respectively. Finally, the 2-amino and 2-amido-1,3,4-oxadiazole and 1,3,4-thiadiazole library was then generated in good yields and high purities by cleavage of the respective resin under trifluoroacetic acid(TFA) in dichloromethane(DCM). The constructed library shows reasonable, oral bioavailability drug properties as determine by using the Lipinski's Rule and similar parameters.