Discovery of novel harmine derivatives as GSK-3ß/DYRK1A dual inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease treatment.

Multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) have recently attracted significant interest due to their superior effectiveness in multifactorial Alzheimer's disease (AD). Combined inhibition of two important AD targets, glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A), may be a breakthrough in the treatment of AD. Based on our previous work, we have designed and synthesized a series of novel harmine derivatives, investigated their inhibition of GSK-3ß and DYRK1A, and evaluated a variety of biological activities. The results of the experiments showed that most of these compounds exhibited good activity against GSK-3ß and DYRK1A in vitro. ZLQH-5 was selected as the best compound due to the most potent inhibitory effect against GSK-3ß and DYRK1A. Molecular docking studies demonstrated that ZLQH-5 could form stable interactions with the ATP binding pocket of GSK-3ß and DYRK1A. In addition, ZLQH-5 showed low cytotoxicity against SH-SY5Y and HL-7702, good blood-brain barrier permeability, and favorable pharmacokinetic properties. More importantly, ZLQH-5 also attenuated the tau hyperphosphorylation in the okadaic acid SH-SY5Y cell model. These results indicated that ZLQH-5 could be a promising dual-target drug candidate for the treatment of AD.

Discovery of novel ß-carboline-1,2,3-triazole hybrids as AChE/GSK-3ß dual inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease treatment.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment and mental behavior. The combination inhibition of two essential AD targets, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß), might be a breakthrough in the discovery of therapeutic success. Herein, 17 ß-carboline-1,2,3-triazole hybrids were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their AChE and GSK-3ß inhibitory potential. The results indicated that compound 21 has the most potent inhibition against eeAChE (IC50 = 0.20 ± 0.02 µM), hAChE (IC50 = 0.34 ± 0.01 µM) and GSK-3ß (IC50 = 1.14 ± 0.05 µM) among these compounds. In addition, it inhibited hAChE in a mixed type manner and could occupy the binding pocket forming diverse interactions with the target of AChE and GSK-3ß. Moreover, compound 21 showed low cytotoxicity against SH-SY5Y and HepG2 cell lines and good BBB permeability. Compound 21 also attenuated the tau hyperphosphorylation in the Tau (P301L) 293T cell model. The ADME projection exhibited that compound 21 has acceptable physicochemical characteristics. This study provides new leads for the assessment of AChE and GSK-3ß dual inhibition as a promising strategy for AD treatment.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel coumarin derivatives as multifunctional ligands for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Multi-targeted directed ligands (MTDLs) are emerging as promising Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapeutic possibilities. Coumarin is a multifunctional backbone with extensive bioactivity that has been utilized to develop innovative anti-neurodegenerative properties and is a desirable starting point for the construction of MTDLs. Herein, we explored and synthesized a series of novel coumarin derivatives and assessed their inhibitory effects on cholinesterase (AChE, BuChE), GSK-3ß, and BACE1. Among these compounds, compound 30 displayed the multifunctional profile of targeting the AChE (IC50 = 1.313 ± 0.099 µM) with a good selectivity over BuChE (SI = 24.623), GSK-3ß (19.30% inhibition at 20 µM), BACE1 (IC50 = 1.227 ± 0.112 µM), along with moderate HepG2 cytotoxicity, SH-SY5Y cytotoxicity, low HL-7702 cytotoxicity, as well as good blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Kinetic and docking studies indicated that compound 30 was a competitive AChE inhibitor. Furthermore, acute toxicity experiments revealed that it was non-toxic at a dosage of 1000 mg/kg. The ADME prediction results indicate that 30 has acceptable physicochemical properties. Collectively, these findings demonstrated that compound 30 would be a potential multifunctional candidate for AD therapy.

Pyranone Derivatives With Antitumor Activities, From the Endophytic Fungus Phoma sp. YN02-P-3.

Two new pyranone derivatives phomapyrone A (2) and phomapyrone B (3), one new coumarin 11S, 13R-(+)-phomacumarin A (1), three known pyranones (4-6), together with three known amide alkaloids fuscoatramides A-C (7-9), as well as 9S, 11R-(+)-ascosalitoxin (10) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Phoma sp. YN02-P-3, which was isolated from the healthy leaf tissue of a Paulownia tree in Yunnan Province, China. Their structures were elucidated using extensive NMR spectroscopic and HRESIMS data and by comparing the information with literature data. In addition, all compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity activity against human tumor cell lines, and the results showed that new compounds 1-3 showed moderate inhibitory activity against the HL-60 cell line with IC50 values of 31.02, 34.62, and 27.90 µM, respectively.

Discovery of novel α-carboline derivatives as glycogen synthase kinase-3ß inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterized by irreversible cognitive impairment, memory loss, and behavioral disturbances, ultimately resulting in death. The critical roles of glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) in tau pathology have also received considerable attention. Based on molecular docking studies, a series of novel α-carboline derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as GSK-3ß inhibitors for their various biological activities. Among them, compound ZCH-9 showed the most potent inhibitory activity against GSK-3ß, with an IC50 value of 1.71 ± 0.09 µM. The cytotoxicity assay showed that ZCH-9 had low cytotoxicity toward the cell lines SH-SY5Y, HepG2, and HL-7702. Moreover, Western blot analysis indicated that ZCH-9 effectively inhibited hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein in okadaic acid-treated SH-SY5Y cells. The binding mode between ZCH-9 and GSK-3ß was analyzed and further clarified throughout the molecular dynamics simulations. In general, these results suggested that the α-carboline-based small-molecule compounds could serve as potential candidates targeting GSK-3ß for the treatment of AD.

Exploration of 4-(1H-indol-3-yl)cyclohex-3-en-1-amine analogues as HDAC inhibitors: Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and modelling studies.

Epigenetics regulate the gene expression and chromatin organization associated with the development and occurrence of cancer. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) have been proved to be an effective epigenetic targeting drug for cancer treatment. The structures of most HDACis were divided into four parts, including cap group, connection unit, linker region and zinc binding group. We designed a series of compounds containing the structure of phenoxyacetate for the linker region and cyclohexene for connection unit as a novel type of inhibitors. Representative compound YZ1 exhibited obvious antiproliferative activity against four different cell lines and potent enzymatic inhibitory activities to class I HDACs, which IC50 of HDAC1-3 were 1.6 nM, 1.9 nM and 3.8 nM respectively. In addition, YZ1 concentration-dependently inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis and cycle arrest at G2/M phase in HCT116 cells. With biological activity assessment and docking studies, these results indicate YZ1 has the potential to be a lead compound for further optimization as HDAC inhibitors.

Discovery of novel benzofuro[3,2-b]quinoline derivatives as dual CDK2/Topo I inhibitors.

Uncontrolled cell proliferation is a hallmark of cancer. The major regulator of the cell cycle, cyclin dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), has become a mature target for cancer treatment. Herein, we describe our efforts toward the discovery of a series of benzofuro[3,2-b]quinoline alkaloid derivatives as CDK2 inhibitors through a scaffold hopping strategy. Compound ZLHQ-5f has topoisomerase I (Topo I) inhibitory activity due to the unique structure of benzofurano[3,2-b]quinoline. Resultantly, ZLHQ-5f exhibited promising anti-proliferative and CDK2 inhibitory activities. It also arrests the cell cycle in S-phase, triggers apoptosis in HCT116 cells, and has a good safety profile in vivo. There has yet to be a report on dual CDK2/Topo I inhibitor, thus this will be a novel attempt.

Discovery of novel ß-carboline derivatives as selective AChE inhibitors with GSK-3ß inhibitory property for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The natural product harmine, a representative ß-carboline alkaloid from the seeds of Peganum harmala L. (Zygophyllaceae), possesses a broad spectrum of biological activities. In this study, a novel series of harmine derivatives containing N-benzylpiperidine moiety were identified for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results showed that all the derivatives possessed significant anti-acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and good selectivity over butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). In particular, compound ZLWH-23 exhibited potent anti-AChE activity (IC50 = 0.27 µM) and selective BChE inhibition (IC50 = 20.82 µM), as well as acceptable glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3ß) inhibition (IC50 = 6.78 µM). Molecular docking studies and molecular dynamics simulations indicated that ZLWH-23 could form stable interaction with AChE and GSK-3ß. Gratifyingly, ZLWH-23 exhibited good selectivity for GSK-3ß over multi-kinases and very low cytotoxicity towards SH-SY5Y, HEK-293T, HL-7702, and HepG2 cell lines. Importantly, ZLWH-23 displayed efficient reduction against tau hyperphosphorylation on Ser-396 site in Tau (P301L) 293T cell model. Collectively, harmine-based derivatives could be considered as possible drug leads for the development of AD therapies.