An ecofriendly synthetic pathway for the synthesis of donepezil precursors is described. Alternative energy sources were used for the total synthesis in order to improve yields, regioselectively, and rate of each synthetic step and to reduce the coproduction of waste at the same time. For all products, characterized by an improved structural rigidity respect to donepezil, the inhibitor activity on AChE, the selectivity vs BuChE, the side-activity on BACE-1, and the effect on SHSY-5Y neuroblastoma cells viability were tested. Two potential new lead compounds for a dual therapeutic strategy against Alzheimer's disease were envisaged.
Multitargeting or polypharmacological approaches, looking for single chemical entities retaining the ability to bind two or more molecular targets, are a potentially powerful strategy to fight complex, multifactorial pathologies. Unfortunately, the search for multiligand agents is challenging because only a small subset of molecules contained in molecular databases are bioactive and even fewer are active on a preselected set of multiple targets. However, collections of natural compounds feature a significantly higher fraction of bioactive molecules than synthetic ones. In this view, we searched our library of 1175 natural compounds from marine sources for molecules including a 2-aminoimidazole+aromatic group motif, found in known compounds active on single relevant targets for Alzheimer's disease (AD). This identified two molecules, a pseudozoanthoxanthin (1) and a bromo-pyrrole alkaloid (2), which were predicted by a computational approach to possess interesting multitarget profiles on AD target proteins. Biochemical assays experimentally confirmed their biological activities. The two compounds inhibit acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and β-secretase enzymes in high-to submicromolar range. They are also able to prevent and revert β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregation of both Aβ 1−40 and Aβ 1−42 peptides, with 1 being more active than 2. Preliminary in vivo studies suggest that compound 1 is able to restore cholinergic corticohippocampal functional connectivity.
In the present study, we investigated a new approach for studying the interaction between p53 and MDM2/X (where MDM is murine double minute protein). The method is based on the different mobility between the interacting domains of the oncosuppressor p53 and its protein ligands MDM2/X on polyacrylamide gels under native conditions. While the two proteins MDM2/X alone were able to enter the gel, the formation of a binary complex between p53 and MDM2/X prevented the gel entry. The novel technique is reliable for determining the different affinity elicited by MDM2 or MDMX toward p53, and can be useful for analyzing the dissociation power exerted by other molecules on the p53-MDM2/X complex.
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