Inhibition of monoamine oxidase by benzoxathiolone analogues

Investigation of the monoamine oxidase inhibition properties of benzoxathiolone derivatives

The treatment of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders such as depression and Parkinson’s disease represent significant challenges in healthcare. Enzymes that metabolise neurotransmitter amines are important drug targets for these disorders and inhibitors of these enzymes have played key roles as therapeutic agents. For example, inhibitors of monoamine oxidase (MAO) A have been used for decades as antidepressant agents and act by inhibiting the central metabolism of serotonin and noradrenaline, while MAO-B inhibitors conserve central dopamine supply and have been used to treat Parkinson’s disease. Literature reports that benzoxathiolone derivatives act as potent MAO inhibitors with specificity for the MAO-B isoform. To expand on these findings, the present study synthesised series of benzoxathiolone derivatives and investigated their human MAO inhibition properties. The results showed that the benzoxathiolone derivatives were potent MAO inhibitors, with the most potent compounds exhibiting IC50 values of 0.083 and 0.086 µM (4d and 5e) and 0.0069 and 0.0066 µM (3a and 3b) for MAO-A and MAO-B, respectively. Compounds 4d and 5e are significantly more potent MAO-A inhibitors compared to those reported previously. It may be concluded that benzoxathiolone derived compounds may act as future leads for the development of new treatments for depression and Parkinson’s disease.

Graphical Abstract

A Comprehensive Review of Monoamine Oxidase-A Inhibitors in their Syntheses and Potencies

BACKGROUND

Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) play a crucial role during the development of various neurodegenerative disorders. There are two MAO isozymes, MAO-A and MAO-B. MAO-A is a flavoenzyme, which binds to the outer mitochondrial membrane and catalyzes the oxidative transformations of neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Focus on synthetic studies has culminated in the preparation of many MAOA inhibitors, and advancements in combinatorial and parallel synthesis have accelerated the developments of synthetic schemes. Here, we provided an overview of the synthetic protocols employed to prepare different classes of MAO-A inhibitors. We classified these inhibitors according to their molecular scaffolds and the synthetic methods used.

RESULTS

Various synthetic and natural derivatives from a different class of MAO-A inhibitors were reported.

CONCLUSION

The review provides a valuable tool for the development of a new class of various selective MAO-A inhibitors for the treatment of depression and other anxiety disorders.

Hybrids of Coumarin Derivatives as Potent and Multifunctional Bioactive Agents: A Review

BACKGROUND

Coumarins exhibit a plethora of biological activities, e.g. antiinflammatory and anti-tumor. Molecular hybridization technique has been implemented in the design of novel coumarin hybrids with several bioactive groups in order to obtain molecules with better pharmacological activity and improved pharmacokinetic profile.

OBJECTIVE

Therefore, we tried to gather as many as possible biologically active coumarin hybrids referred in the literature till now, to delineate the structural characteristics in relation to the activities and to have a survey that might help the medicinal chemists to design new coumarin hybrids with drug-likeness and varied bioactivities.

RESULTS

The biological activities of the hybrids in most of the cases were found to be different from the biological activities presented by the parent coumarins. The results showed that the hybrid molecules are more potent compared to the standard drugs used in the evaluation experiments.

CONCLUSION

Conjugation of coumarin with varied pharmacophore groups/druglike molecules responsible for different biological activities led to many novel hybrid molecules, with a multitarget behavior and improved pharmacokinetic properties.

Reversible Small Molecule Inhibitors of MAO A and MAO B with Anilide Motifs

BACKGROUND

Ligands consisting of two aryl moieties connected via a short spacer were shown to be potent inhibitors of monoamine oxidases (MAO) A and B, which are known as suitable targets in treatment of neurological diseases. Based on this general blueprint, we synthesized a series of 66 small aromatic amide derivatives as novel MAO A/B inhibitors.

METHODS

The compounds were synthesized, purified and structurally confirmed by spectroscopic methods. Fluorimetric enzymological assays were performed to determine MAO A/B inhibition properties. Mode and reversibility of inhibition was determined for the most potent MAO B inhibitor. Docking poses and pharmacophore models were generated to confirm the in vitro results.

RESULTS

N-(2,4-Dinitrophenyl)benzo[d][1,3]dioxole-5-carboxamide (55, ST-2043) was found to be a reversible competitive moderately selective MAO B inhibitor (IC₅₀ = 56 nM, K_i = 6.3 nM), while N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)benzamide (7, ST-2023) showed higher preference for MAO A (IC₅₀ = 126 nM). Computational analysis confirmed in vitro binding properties, where the anilides examined possessed high surface complementarity to MAO A/B active sites.

CONCLUSION

The small molecule anilides with different substitution patterns were identified as potent MAO A/B inhibitors, which were active in nanomolar concentrations ranges. These small and easily accessible molecules are promising motifs, especially for newly designed multitargeted ligands taking advantage of these fragments.

Benzo[b]tiophen-3-ol derivatives as effective inhibitors of human monoamine oxidase: design, synthesis, and biological activity

A series of benzo[b]thiophen-3-ols were synthesised and investigated as potential human monoamine oxidase (hMAO) inhibitors in vitro as well as ex vivo in rat cortex synaptosomes by means of evaluation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid/dopamine (DOPAC/DA) ratio and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity. Most of these compounds possessed high selectivity for the MAO-B isoform and a discrete antioxidant and chelating potential. Molecular docking studies of all the compounds underscored potential binding site interactions suitable for MAO inhibition activity, and suggested structural requirements to further improve the activity of this scaffold by chemical modification of the aryl substituents. Starting from this heterocyclic nucleus, novel lead compounds for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease could be developed.

Monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors as potential neurotherapeutic agents: An overview and update

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors have made significant contributions and remain an indispensable approach of molecular and mechanistic diversity for the discovery of antineurodegenerative drugs. However, their usage has been hampered by nonselective and/or irreversible action which resulted in drawbacks like liver toxicity, cheese effect, and so forth. Hence, the search for selective MAO inhibitors (MAOIs) has become a substantial focus in current drug discovery. This review summarizes our current understanding on MAO-A/MAO-B including their structure, catalytic mechanism, and biological functions with emphases on the role of MAO-B as a potential therapeutic target for the development of medications treating neurodegenerative disorders. It also highlights the recent developments in the discovery of potential MAO-B inhibitors (MAO-BIs) belonging to diverse chemical scaffolds, arising from intensive chemical-mechanistic and computational studies documented during past 3 years (2015-2018), with emphases on their potency and selectivity. Importantly, readers will gain knowledge of various newly established MAO-BI scaffolds and their development potentials. The comprehensive information provided herein will hopefully accelerate ideas for designing novel selective MAO-BIs with superior activity profiles and critical discussions will inflict more caution in the decision-making process in the MAOIs discovery.

Crystal structures and Hirshfeld surfaces of two 1,3-benzoxa-thiol-2-one derivatives

The crystal structures of 6-meth-oxy-1,3-benzoxa-thiol-2-one, C9H8O3S, (I), and 2-oxo-1,3-benzoxa-thiol-6-yl acetate, C9H6O4S, (II), are described. Compound (I) is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation for the non-H atoms = 0.011 Å), whereas (II) shows a substantial twist between the fused-ring system and the acetate substituent [dihedral angle = 74.42 (3)°]. For both structures, the bond distances in the heterocyclic ring suggest that little if any conjugation occurs. In the crystal of (I), C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules into [1-11] chains incorporating alternating R22(8) and R22(12) inversion dimers. The extended structure of (II) features C(7) [201] chains linked by C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, with further C-H⋯O bonds and weak π-π stacking inter-actions connecting the chains into a three-dimensional network. Hirshfeld fingerprint analyses for (I) and (II) are presented and discussed.

Ciproxifan, a histamine H3 receptor antagonist, reversibly inhibits monoamine oxidase A and B

Ciproxifan is a well-investigated histamine H₃ receptor (H3R) inverse agonist/antagonist, showing an exclusively high species-specific affinity at rodent compared to human H3R. It is well studied as reference compound for H3R in rodent models for neurological diseases connected with neurotransmitter dysregulation, e.g. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or Alzheimer’s disease. In a screening for potential monoamine oxidase A and B inhibition ciproxifan showed efficacy on both enzyme isoforms. Further characterization of ciproxifan revealed IC₅₀ values in a micromolar concentration range for human and rat monoamine oxidases with slight preference for monoamine oxidase B in both species. The inhibition by ciproxifan was reversible for both human isoforms. Regarding inhibitory potency of ciproxifan on rat brain MAO, these findings should be considered, when using high doses in rat models for neurological diseases. As the H3R and monoamine oxidases are all capable of affecting neurotransmitter modulation in brain, we consider dual targeting ligands as interesting approach for treatment of neurological disorders. Since ciproxifan shows only moderate activity at human targets, further investigations in animals are not of primary interest. On the other hand, it may serve as starting point for the development of dual targeting ligands.

2-Heteroarylidene-1-indanone derivatives as inhibitors of monoamine oxidase

In the present study a series of fifteen 2-heteroarylidene-1-indanone derivatives were synthesised and evaluated as inhibitors of recombinant human monoamine oxidase (MAO) A and B. These compounds are structurally related to series of heterocyclic chalcone derivatives which have previously been shown to act as MAO-B specific inhibitors. The results document that the 2-heteroarylidene-1-indanones are in vitro inhibitors of MAO-B, displaying IC₅₀ values of 0.0044-1.53μM. Although with lower potencies, the derivatives also inhibit the MAO-A isoform with IC₅₀ values as low as 0.061μM. An analysis of the structure-activity relationships for MAO-B inhibition indicates that substitution with the methoxy group on the A-ring leads to a significant enhancement in MAO-B inhibition compared to the unsubstituted homologues while the effect of the heteroaromatic substituent on activity, in decreasing order is: 5-bromo-2-furan>5-methyl-2-furan>2-pyridine≈2-thiophene>cyclohexyl>3-pyridine≈2-furan. It may therefore be concluded that 2-heteroarylidene-1-indanone derivatives are promising leads for the design of MAO inhibitors for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and possibly other neurodegenerative disorders.