Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Dantrolene-Like Hydrazide and Hydrazone Analogues as Multitarget Agents for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neuroprotective effects of dantrolene in neurodegenerative disease: Role of inhibition of pathological inflammation

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) refer to a group of diseases in which slow, continuous cell death is the main pathogenic event in the nervous system. Most NDs are characterized by cognitive dysfunction or progressive motor dysfunction. Treatments of NDs mainly target alleviating symptoms, and most NDs do not have disease-modifying drugs. The pathogenesis of NDs involves inflammation and apoptosis mediated by mitochondrial dysfunction. Dantrolene, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, acts as a RyRs antagonist for the treatment of malignant hyperthermia, spasticity, neuroleptic syndrome, ecstasy intoxication and exertional heat stroke with tolerable side effects. Recently, dantrolene has also shown therapeutic effects in some NDs. Its neuroprotective mechanisms include the reduction of excitotoxicity, apoptosis and neuroinflammation. In summary, dantrolene can be considered as a potential therapeutic candidate for NDs.

Novel Dual-Acting Hybrids Targeting Type-2 Cannabinoid Receptors and Cholinesterase Activity Show Neuroprotective Effects In Vitro and Amelioration of Cognitive Impairment In Vivo

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative form of dementia characterized by the loss of synapses and a progressive decline in cognitive abilities. Among current treatments for AD, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors have efficacy limited to symptom relief, with significant side effects and poor compliance. Pharmacological agents that modulate the activity of type-2 cannabinoid receptors (CB2R) of the endocannabinoid system by activating or blocking them have also been shown to be effective against neuroinflammation. Herein, we describe the design, synthesis, and pharmacological effects in vitro and in vivo of dual-acting compounds that inhibit AChE and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and target CB2R. Within the investigated series, compound 4g proved to be the most promising. It achieved IC50 values in the low micromolar to submicromolar range against both human cholinesterase isoforms while antagonizing CB2R with Ki of 31 nM. Interestingly, 4g showed neuroprotective effects on the SH-SY5Y cell line thanks to its ability to prevent oxidative stress-induced cell toxicity and reverse scopolamine-induced amnesia in the Y-maze forced alternation test in vivo.

Development of a New Class of Monoamine Oxidase-B Inhibitors by Fine-Tuning the Halogens on the Acylhydrazones

A total of 14 acyl hydrazine derivatives (ACH1-ACH14) were developed and examined for their ability to block monoamine oxidase (MAO). Thirteen analogues showed stronger inhibition potency against MAO-B than MAO-A. With a half-maximum inhibitory concentration of 0.14 μM, ACH10 demonstrated the strongest inhibitory activity against MAO-B, followed by ACH14, ACH13, ACH8, and ACH3 (IC50 = 0.15, 0.18, 0.20, and 0.22 μM, respectively). Structure-activity relationships suggested that the inhibition effect on MAO-B resulted from the combination of halogen substituents of the A- and/or B-rings. This series concluded that when -F was substituted to the B-ring, MAO-B inhibitory activities were high, except for ACH6. In the inhibition kinetics study, the compounds ACH10 and ACH14 were identified as competitive inhibitors, with Ki values of 0.097 ± 0.0021 and 0.10 ± 0.038 μM, respectively. In a reversibility experiment using the dialysis methods, ACH10 and ACH14 showed effective recoveries of MAO-B inhibition as much as lazabemide, a reversible reference. These experiments proposed that ACH10 and ACH14 were efficient, reversible competitive MAO-B inhibitors. In addition, the lead molecules showed good blood-brain barrier permeation with the PAMPA method. The molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation study confirmed that the hit compound ACH10 can form a stable protein-ligand complex by forming a hydrogen bond with the NH atom in the hydrazide group of the compound.

Mechanochemical Studies on Coupling of Hydrazines and Hydrazine Amides with Phenolic and Furanyl Aldehydes-Hydrazones with Antileishmanial and Antibacterial Activities

Hydrazone compounds represent an important area of research that includes, among others, synthetic approaches and biological studies. A series of 17 hydrazones have been synthesized by mechanochemical means. The fragments chosen were phenolic and furanyl aldehydes coupled with 12 heterocyclic hydrazines or hydrazinamides. All compounds can be obtained quantitatively when operating on a planetary ball mill and a maximum reaction time of 180 min (6 cycles of 30 min each). Complete spectroscopic analyses of hydrazones revealed eight compounds (3-5, 8-11, 16) present in one geometric form, six compounds (1, 2, 13-15) present in two isomeric forms, and three compounds (6, 7, 12) where one rotation is restricted giving rise to two different forms. The single crystal X-ray structure of one of the hydrazones bearing the isoniazid fragment (8) indicates a crystal lattice consisting of two symmetry-independent molecules with different geometries. All compounds obtained were tested for anti-infectious and antibacterial activities. Four compounds (1, 3, 5 and 8) showed good activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and one (7) was very potent against Staphylococcus aureus. Most interesting, this series of compounds displayed very promising antileishmanial activity. Among all, compound 9 exhibited an IC₅₀ value of 0.3 µM on the Leishmania donovani intramacrophage amastigote in vitro model and a good selectivity index, better than miltefosine, making it worth evaluating in vivo.

Biomass to Aromatic Amine Module: Alkali Catalytic Conversion of N-Acetylglucosamine into Unsubstituted 3-Acetamidofuran by Retro-Aldol Condensation

Aminofurans are widely used in drug synthesis as aromatic modules analogous to aniline. However, unsubstituted aminofuran compounds are difficult to prepare. In this study, a process for the selective conversion of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (NAG) into unsubstituted 3-acetamidofuran (3AF) is developed. The yield of 3AF from NAG catalyzed by a ternary Ba(OH)₂ -H₃ BO₃ -NaCl catalytic system in N-methylpyrrolidone at 180 °C for 20 min can reach 73.9 %. Mechanistic studies reveal that the pathway to 3AF starts with a base-promoted retro-aldol condensation of the ring-opened NAG, affording the key intermediate N-acetylerythrosamine. Judicious selection of the catalyst system and conditions enables the selective conversion of biomass-derived NAG into 3AF or 3-acetamido-5-acetylfuran.

Novel Small Molecule Positive Allosteric Modulator SPAM1 Triggers the Nuclear Translocation of PAC1-R to Exert Neuroprotective Effects through Neuron-Restrictive Silencer Factor

The neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) exerts effective neuroprotective activity through its specific receptor, PAC1-R. We accidentally discovered that as a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of PAC1-R, the small-molecule PAM (SPAM1) has a hydrazide-like structure, but different binding characteristics, from hydrazide for the N-terminal extracellular domain of PAC1-R (PAC1-R-EC1). SPAM1 had a significant neuroprotective effect against oxidative stress, both in a cell model treated with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and an aging mouse model induced by D-galactose (D-gal). SPAM1 was found to block the decrease in PACAP levels in brain tissues induced by D-gal and significantly induced the nuclear translocation of PAC1-R in PAC1R-CHO cells and mouse retinal ganglion cells. Nuclear PAC1-R was subjected to fragmentation and the nuclear 35 kDa, but not the 15 kDa fragments, of PAC1-R interacted with SP1 to upregulate the expression of Huntingtin (Htt), which then exerted a neuroprotective effect by attenuating the binding availability of the neuron-restrictive silencer factor (NRSF) to the neuron-restrictive silencer element (NRSE). This resulted in an upregulation of the expression of NRSF-related neuropeptides, including PACAP, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), and synapsin-1 (SYN1). The novel mechanism reported in this study indicates that SPAM1 has potential use as a drug, as it exerts a neuroprotective effect by regulating NRSF.

Two New Phenylhydrazone Derivatives from the Pearl River Estuary Sediment-Derived Streptomyces sp. SCSIO 40020

Two new phenylhydrazone derivatives and one new alkaloid, penzonemycins A–B (1–2) and demethylmycemycin A (3), together with three known compounds including an alkaloid (4) and two sesquiterpenoids (5–6), were isolated from the Streptomyces sp. SCSIO 40020 obtained from the Pearl River Estuary sediment. Their structures and absolute configurations were assigned by 1D/2D NMR, mass spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Compound 1 was evaluated in four human cancer cell lines by the SRB method and displayed weak cytotoxicity in three cancer cell lines, with IC₅₀ values that ranged from 30.44 to 61.92 µM, which were comparable to those of the positive control cisplatin. Bioinformatic analysis of the putative biosynthetic gene cluster indicated a Japp–Klingemann coupling reaction involved in the hydrazone formation of 1 and 2.