Simple analogues of natural product chelerythrine: Discovery of a novel anticholinesterase 2-phenylisoquinolin-2-ium scaffold with excellent potency against acetylcholinesterase.

Simple analogues of natural product chelerythrine: Discovery of a novel anticholinesterase 2-phenylisoquinolin-2-ium scaffold with excellent potency against acetylcholinesterase.
Eur J Med Chem. 2020 May 16;200:112415
Authors: Zhou B, Li H, Cui Z, Li D, Geng H, Gao J, Zhou L
Abstract
As simple analogues of the natural compound chelerythrine, a novel anti-cholinesterase 2-phenylisoquinolin-2-ium scaffold was designed by structure imitation. The activity evaluation led to the discovery of seven compounds with potent anti-acetylcholinesterase activity with IC50 values of ≤0.72 μM, superior to chelerythrine and standard drugs galantamine. Particularly, compound 8y showed the excellent dual acetylcholinesterase-butyrylcholinesterase inhibition activity, superior to rivastigmine, a dual cholinesterase inhibitor drug. Furthermore, the compounds displayed a competitive anti-acetylcholinesterase mechanism with the substrate and low cytotoxicity. Molecular docking showed that the isoquinoline moiety is embedded in a cavity surrounded by four aromatic residues of acetylcholinesterase by the π-π action. Structure-activity relationship showed that the p-substituents on the C-ring can dramatically improve the anti-acetylcholinesterase activity, while 8-OMe can increase the activity against the two cholinesterases simultaneously. Thus, the title compounds emerged as promising lead compounds for the development of novel cholinesterase inhibito...

Source: European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry - May 15, 2020 Category: Chemistry Authors: Zhou B, Li H, Cui Z, Li D, Geng H, Gao J, Zhou L Tags: Eur J Med Chem Source Type: research