Dual Inhibitors of Brain Carbonic Anhydrases and Monoamine Oxidase-B Efficiently Protect against Amyloid-β-Induced Neuronal Toxicity, Oxidative Stress, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction

J Med Chem. 2024 Mar 14;67(5):4170-4193. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.4c00045. Epub 2024 Mar 4.

Abstract

We report here the first dual inhibitors of brain carbonic anhydrases (CAs) and monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) for the management of Alzheimer's disease. Classical CA inhibitors (CAIs) such as methazolamide prevent amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ)-induced overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial dysfunction. MAO-B is also implicated in ROS production, cholinergic system disruption, and amyloid plaque formation. In this work, we combined a reversible MAO-B inhibitor of the coumarin and chromone type with benzenesulfonamide fragments as highly effective CAIs. A hit-to-lead optimization led to a significant set of derivatives showing potent low nanomolar inhibition of the target brain CAs (KIs in the range of 0.1-90.0 nM) and MAO-B (IC50 in the range of 6.7-32.6 nM). Computational studies were conducted to elucidate the structure-activity relationship and predict ADMET properties. The most effective multitarget compounds totally prevented Aβ-related toxicity, reverted ROS formation, and restored the mitochondrial functionality in an SH-SY5Y cell model surpassing the efficacy of single-target drugs.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / drug therapy
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Carbonic Anhydrases*
  • Humans
  • Mitochondrial Diseases*
  • Monoamine Oxidase / metabolism
  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Neuroblastoma*
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Monoamine Oxidase
  • Reactive Oxygen Species
  • Carbonic Anhydrases
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors