Discovery and structure activity relationship of small molecule inhibitors of toxic ?-amyloid-42 fibril formation.

ABSTRACT: Increasing evidence implicates A? peptides self-assembly and fibril formation as crucial events in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. Thus, inhibiting A? aggregation, among others, has emerged as a potential therapeutic intervention for this disorder. Herein, we employed 3-aminopyrazole as a key fragment in our design of non-dye compounds capable of interacting with A?42 via a donor-acceptor-donor hydrogen bond pattern complementary to that of the ?-sheet conformation of A?42. The initial design of the compounds was based on connecting two 3-aminopyrazole moieties via a linker to identify suitable scaffold molecules. Additional aryl substitutions on the two 3-aminopyrazole moieties were also explored to enhance ?-? stacking/hydrophobic interactions with amino acids of A?42. The efficacy of these compounds on inhibiting A? fibril formation and toxicity in vitro was assessed using a combination of biophysical techniques and viability assays. Using structure activity relationship data from the in vitro assays, we identified compounds capable of preventing pathological self-assembly of A?42 leading to decreased cell toxicity.

SUBMITTER: Kroth H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3464581 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature