Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of a Novel Series of Thiazolidinediones as Dual GSK-3ß and Tau Aggregation Inhibitors

Zahra Abdollahi; Khalil Abnous; Mohamad Reza Kalani; Seyed Mohammad Taghdisi; Somaieh Soltani; Mojgan Nejabat; Farzin Hadizadeh

doi:10.2174/0115734064369119250413021648

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of a Novel Series of Thiazolidinediones as Dual GSK-3ß and Tau Aggregation Inhibitors

Med Chem. 2025 Apr 30. doi: 10.2174/0115734064369119250413021648. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zahra Abdollahi¹, Khalil Abnous², Mohamad Reza Kalani^{3

4}, Seyed Mohammad Taghdisi^{5

6}, Somaieh Soltani⁷, Mojgan Nejabat¹, Farzin Hadizadeh^{1

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
² Pharmaceutical Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
³ School of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States.
⁴ Department of Molecular Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Golestan, Iran.
⁵ Targeted Drug Delivery Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁶ Department of Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
⁷ Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacy Faculty, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, 51664- 14766, Iran.
⁸ Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

PMID: 40325541
DOI: 10.2174/0115734064369119250413021648

Abstract

Introduction: Glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is a serine/threonine kinase that is involved in the synthesis of glycogen. Among the inhibitors, thiazolidinediones (TZDs) can specifically bind to GSK-3ß. They act non-competitively with ATP, and as a result, they are very specific and have fewer side effects. In this research, new TZDs were designed and synthesized, and then their inhibitory effects on GSK-3β enzyme and tau aggregation were investigated.

Material and methods: The structure of the compounds was confirmed using 1H-NMR, 13CNMR, and LC-MASS. The inhibitory activities of the compounds 5a-p, against GSK-3ß were evaluated using Z'-LYTE technique, and the IC50 values were determined.

Results: Compound 5l (R1 = Me, R2 = 4-F-benzyl, R3 = butyl) with IC50 of 16.1 μM exhibited the most potent inhibition. Also, the binding with tau protein and their inhibitory effects on the accumulation of recombinant human tau protein (1N4R, htau34) were evaluated using the Surface Plasmon Response (SPR) method. In this study also the impact of TZDs on tau aggregation using the Thioflavin T (ThT) assay was investigated. PC12 cells viability study confirmed the neuroprotective effects of compounds against tau aggregates. MD simulation studies showed the interaction of 5l with the active site of GSK-3b (PDB ID: 2OW3) and also its destructive effect on tau aggregate (PDB ID: 5O3L) was studied.

Conclusion: Overall, the study identified three promising TZDs with potential as inhibitors of GSK-3β and tau proteins, highlighting compound 5l as particularly effective in stabilizing GSK- 3β and disrupting tau aggregation.

Keywords: Glycogen synthase kinase-3β; synthesis; tau-aggregation.; thiazolidinedione.