Exploiting the lipoic acid structure in the search for novel multitarget ligands against Alzheimer's disease

Eur J Med Chem. 2011 Nov;46(11):5435-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2011.09.001. Epub 2011 Sep 8.

Abstract

Lipoic acid (LA) is a natural antioxidant. Its structure was previously combined with that of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor tacrine to give lipocrine (1), a lead compound multitargeted against Alzheimer's disease (AD). Herein, we further explore LA as a privileged structure for developing multimodal compounds to investigate AD. First, we studied the effect of LA chirality by evaluating the cholinesterase profile of 1's enantiomers. Then, a new series of LA hybrids was designed and synthesized by combining racemic LA with motifs of other known anticholinesterase agents (rivastigmine and memoquin). This afforded 4, which represents a step forward in the search for balanced anticholinesterase and antioxidant capacities.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acetylcholinesterase / metabolism
  • Alzheimer Disease / drug therapy*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / chemistry
  • Antioxidants / chemical synthesis
  • Antioxidants / chemistry
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology
  • Antioxidants / therapeutic use
  • Butyrylcholinesterase / metabolism
  • Cell Line
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors / chemical synthesis
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Peptide Fragments / chemistry
  • Protein Multimerization / drug effects
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Thioctic Acid / chemical synthesis
  • Thioctic Acid / chemistry*
  • Thioctic Acid / pharmacology*
  • Thioctic Acid / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Antioxidants
  • Cholinesterase Inhibitors
  • Ligands
  • Peptide Fragments
  • amyloid beta-protein (1-40)
  • Thioctic Acid
  • Acetylcholinesterase
  • Butyrylcholinesterase