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Verma A, Waiker DK, Singh N, Singh A, Saraf P, Bhardwaj B, Kumar P, Krishnamurthy S, Srikrishna S, Shrivastava SK. Lead optimization based design, synthesis, and pharmacological evaluation of quinazoline derivatives as multi-targeting agents for Alzheimer's disease treatment. Eur J Med Chem 2024; 271:116450. [PMID: 38701714 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2024.116450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 04/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
The complexity and multifaceted nature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have driven us to further explore quinazoline scaffolds as multi-targeting agents for AD treatment. The lead optimization strategy was utilized in designing of new series of derivatives (AK-1 to AK-14) followed by synthesis, characterization, and pharmacological evaluation against human cholinesterase's (hChE) and β-secretase (hBACE-1) enzymes. Amongst them, compounds AK-1, AK-2, and AK-3 showed good and significant inhibitory activity against both hAChE and hBACE-1 enzymes with favorable permeation across the blood-brain barrier. The most active compound AK-2 revealed significant propidium iodide (PI) displacement from the AChE-PAS region and was non-neurotoxic against SH-SY5Y cell lines. The lead molecule (AK-2) also showed Aβ aggregation inhibition in a self- and AChE-induced Aβ aggregation, Thioflavin-T assay. Further, compound AK-2 significantly ameliorated Aβ-induced cognitive deficits in the Aβ-induced Morris water maze rat model and demonstrated a significant rescue in eye phenotype in the Aꞵ-phenotypic drosophila model of AD. Ex-vivo immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis on hippocampal rat brains showed reduced Aβ and BACE-1 protein levels. Compound AK-2 suggested good oral absorption via pharmacokinetic studies and displayed a good and stable ligand-protein interaction in in-silico molecular modeling analysis. Thus, the compound AK-2 can be regarded as a lead molecule and should be investigated further for the treatment of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akash Verma
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Digambar Kumar Waiker
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Neha Singh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Abhinav Singh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Poorvi Saraf
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Bhagwati Bhardwaj
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Pradeep Kumar
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Sairam Krishnamurthy
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Saripella Srikrishna
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India
| | - Sushant Kumar Shrivastava
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005, India.
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Puli OR, Gogia N, Chimata AV, Yorimitsu T, Nakagoshi H, Kango-Singh M, Singh A. Genetic mechanism regulating diversity in the placement of eyes on the head of animals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2316244121. [PMID: 38588419 PMCID: PMC11032433 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2316244121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite the conservation of genetic machinery involved in eye development, there is a strong diversity in the placement of eyes on the head of animals. Morphogen gradients of signaling molecules are vital to patterning cues. During Drosophila eye development, Wingless (Wg), a ligand of Wnt/Wg signaling, is expressed anterolaterally to form a morphogen gradient to determine the eye- versus head-specific cell fate. The underlying mechanisms that regulate this process are yet to be fully understood. We characterized defective proventriculus (dve) (Drosophila ortholog of human SATB1), a K50 homeodomain transcription factor, as a dorsal eye gene, which regulates Wg signaling to determine eye versus head fate. Across Drosophila species, Dve is expressed in the dorsal head vertex region where it regulates wg transcription. Second, Dve suppresses eye fate by down-regulating retinal determination genes. Third, the dve-expressing dorsal head vertex region is important for Wg-mediated inhibition of retinal cell fate, as eliminating the Dve-expressing cells or preventing Wg transport from these dve-expressing cells leads to a dramatic expansion of the eye field. Together, these findings suggest that Dve regulates Wg expression in the dorsal head vertex, which is critical for determining eye versus head fate. Gain-of-function of SATB1 exhibits an eye fate suppression phenotype similar to Dve. Our data demonstrate a conserved role for Dve/SATB1 in the positioning of eyes on the head and the interocular distance by regulating Wg. This study provides evidence that dysregulation of the Wg morphogen gradient results in developmental defects such as hypertelorism in humans where disproportionate interocular distance and facial anomalies are reported.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Neha Gogia
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
| | | | - Takeshi Yorimitsu
- Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama700-8530, Japan
| | - Hideki Nakagoshi
- Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama700-8530, Japan
| | - Madhuri Kango-Singh
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
- Premedical Program, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
- Integrative Science and Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
| | - Amit Singh
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
- Premedical Program, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
- Integrative Science and Engineering, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH45469
- Center for Genomic Advocacy (TCGA), Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN47809
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Deshpande P, Chen CY, Chimata AV, Li JC, Sarkar A, Yeates C, Chen CH, Kango-Singh M, Singh A. miR-277 targets the proapoptotic gene-hid to ameliorate Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's model. Cell Death Dis 2024; 15:71. [PMID: 38238337 PMCID: PMC10796706 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-023-06361-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD), an age-related progressive neurodegenerative disorder, exhibits reduced cognitive function with no cure to date. One of the reasons for AD is the accumulation of Amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ42) plaque(s) that trigger aberrant gene expression and signaling, which results in neuronal cell death by an unknown mechanism(s). Misexpression of human Aβ42 in the developing retina of Drosophila exhibits AD-like neuropathology. Small non-coding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of their target genes and thereby regulate different signaling pathways. In a forward genetic screen, we identified miR-277 (human ortholog is hsa-miR-3660) as a genetic modifier of Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration. Loss-of-function of miR-277 enhances the Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration. Whereas gain-of-function of miR-277 in the GMR > Aβ42 background downregulates cell death to maintain the number of neurons and thereby restores the retinal axonal targeting defects indicating the functional rescue. In addition, gain-of-function of miR-277 rescues the eclosion- and climbing assays defects observed in GMR > Aβ42 background. Thus, gain-of-function of miR-277 rescues both structurally as well as functionally the Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration. Furthermore, we identified head involution defective (hid), an evolutionarily conserved proapoptotic gene, as one of the targets of miR-277 and validated these results using luciferase- and qPCR -assays. In the GMR > Aβ42 background, the gain-of-function of miR-277 results in the reduction of hid transcript levels to one-third of its levels as compared to GMR > Aβ42 background alone. Here, we provide a novel molecular mechanism where miR-277 targets and downregulates proapoptotic gene, hid, transcript levels to rescue Aβ42-mediated neurodegeneration by blocking cell death. These studies shed light on molecular mechanism(s) that mediate cell death response following Aβ42 accumulation seen in neurodegenerative disorders in humans and provide new therapeutic targets for neurodegeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chao-Yi Chen
- Institution of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | | | - Jian-Chiuan Li
- Institution of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan
| | - Ankita Sarkar
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 45469, USA
| | - Catherine Yeates
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 45469, USA
| | - Chun-Hong Chen
- Institution of Molecular and Cellular Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
- National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.
| | - Madhuri Kango-Singh
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 45469, USA.
- Premedical Program, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
- Integrative Science and Engineering (ISE), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
| | - Amit Singh
- Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 45469, USA.
- Premedical Program, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
- Integrative Science and Engineering (ISE), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
- Center for Genomic Advocacy (TCGA), Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, USA.
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