Discovery of 3-arylcoumarin-tetracyclic tacrine hybrids as multifunctional agents against Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

A series of multifunctional directed 3-arylcoumarin-tetracyclic tacrine derivatives was designed and synthesized for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD). A number of derivatives (18, 19, 20, 21 and 24) demonstrated significant reduction of aggregation of ‘human’ alpha-synuclein (α-synuclein) protein, expressing on transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) model - NL5901. Moreover, compounds 16, 18 and 24 also exhibited good anti-oxidant properties and significantly increased the dopamine (DA) content in N2 and NL5901 strains of C. elegans. Interestingly, the protective efficacy of these hybrids seems to be mediated via activation of longevity promoting transcription factor DAF-16. In addition, molecular modeling studies have evidenced the exquisite interaction of most active compounds 18 and 24 with α-synuclein protein. Taken together, the data indicate that the derivatives may be useful leads against aging and age associated PD.