Oxidative
stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of a wide variety
of neurodegenerative disorders, and accordingly, dietary supplement
of exogenous antioxidants or/and upregulation of the endogenous antioxidant
defense system are promising for therapeutic intervention or chemoprevention
of neurodegenerative diseases. Nrf2, a master regulator of the cellular
antioxidant machinery, cardinally participates in the transcription
of cytoprotective genes against oxidative/electrophilic stresses.
Herein, we report the synthesis of 59 structurally diverse dithiolethiones
and evaluation of their neuroprotection against 6-hydroxydopamine-
or H2O2-induced oxidative damages in PC12 cells,
a neuron-like rat pheochromocytoma cell line. Initial screening identified
compounds 10 and 11 having low cytotoxicity
but conferring remarkable protection on PC12 cells from oxidative-mediated
damages. Further studies demonstrated that both compounds upregulated
a battery of antioxidant genes as well as corresponding genes’
products. Significantly, silence of Nrf2 expression abolishes cytoprotection
of 10 and 11, indicating targeting Nrf2
activation is pivotal for their cellular functions. Taken together,
the two lead compounds discovered here with potent neuroprotective
functions against oxidative stress via Nrf2 activation merit further
development as therapeutic or chemopreventive candidates for neurodegenerative
disorders.