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A series of 2-(3-hydroxybenzyl)benzo[d]isothiazol-3(2H)-one Mannich base derivatives were designed as potential multifunctional agents against Alzheimer’s disease. The twelve derivatives were synthesized and evaluated with various biological activities. In vitro, biological assays showed that most of the target compounds are selective AChE inhibitors and good antioxidants. Among them, compounds 6d and 13d are representative agents exhibiting significant selective AChE inhibition (IC50 = 1.09 µM and 2.01 µM, respectively), potent antioxidant activity, moderate inhibition of self-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation, selective metal-chelating activity with Fe2+ and Cu2+, excellent neuroprotective effect on H2O2-induced PC12 cell injury and good BBB permeability. Moreover, the step-down passive avoidance test demonstrated that 6d and 13d can improve the scopolamine-induced cognitive deficit in mice. The above results suggested that compounds 6d and 13d can be envisioned as multifunctional lead compounds for further development of drugs against AD.

In this study, a series of naringenin

Bicyclol and silymarin are widely used in the treatment of various liver diseases; however, there is no report on comparative effect of them on liver fibrosis. To compare their liver protective effect, liver fibrosis rats induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) were orally treated with 100 mg/kg bicyclol and 100 mg/kg silymarin respectively for 4 weeks. Liver index, liver function activities, inflammatory biomarkers, fibrotic biomarkers and liver histopathology were assessed. BDL induced marked histopathological changes in liver tissues coupled with changes in serum biochemistry. Furthermore, hepatic content of hydroxyproline, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were elevated, together with a reduction of interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in the liver. In addition, BDL increased the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Treatment with bicyclol or silymarin protected against BDL induced liver fibrosis, as proved by the alleviation of inflammatory and fibrotic biomarkers. Overall, our results indicated that the effect of bicyclol was better than that of silymarin. Key words: Liver fibrosis, bile duct ligation, bicyclol, silymarin, comparative effect.

Based on multitarget-directed ligands approach, through two rounds of screening, a series of 2-aminoalkyl-6-(2-hydroxyphenyl)pyridazin-3(2H)-one derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as innovative multifunctional agents against Alzheimer's disease. In vitro biological assays indicated that most of the hybrids were endowed with great AChE inhibitory activity, excellent antioxidant activity and moderate Aβ

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic, progressive brain neurodegenerative disorder. Up to now, there is no effective drug to halt or reverse the progress of AD. Given the complex pathogenesis of AD, the multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy is considered as the promising therapy. Herein, a series of novel donepezil-chalone-rivastigmine hybrids was rationally designed and synthesized by fusing donepezil, chalone and rivastigmine. The in vitro bioactivity results displayed that compound 10c was a reversible huAChE (IC

To discover multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a series of chalcone-O-carbamate derivatives was designed and synthesized based on the multitarget-directed ligands strategy. The in vitro biological activities were evaluated including AChE/BChE inhibition, MAO-A/MAO-B inhibition, antioxidant activities, Aβ1-42 aggregation inhibition, metal-chelating properties and neuroprotective effects against H2O2-induced PC12 cell injury. The results showed compounds 5b and 5h indicated highly selective BChE inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 3.1 μM and 1.2 μM, respectively and showed highly selective MAO-B inhibitory potency with IC50 values of 1.3 μM and 3.7 μM, respectively. In addition, compounds 5b and 5h could inhibit self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation with 63.9% and 53.1% inhibition percent rate, respectively. Particularly, compound 5b was a potent antioxidant agent and neuroprotectant, as well as a selective metal chelator by chelating Cu2+ and Al3+. Moreover, compound 5b could inhibit and disaggregate Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation, which was further supported by the TEM images. Furthermore, compounds 5b and 5h could cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in vitro and conformed to the Lipinski's rule of five. Finally, the in vivo assay exhibited that compound 5b could improve scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment. Taken together, these results revealed that compound 5b might be a potential multifunctional agent for the treatment of AD, and deserved to do further structure optimization.

A novel series of ferulic acid derivatives was designed and synthesized on the basis of the multi-target-directed ligands strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In vitro results revealed that all the target compounds were highly effective and selective butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitors. In particular, compound TM-10 showed the best BuChE inhibitory activity, with IC50 = 8.9 nM, and remarkable monoamine oxidase A and B inhibitory potency, with IC50 = 6.3 and 8.6 μM, respectively. TM-10 could inhibit (53.9%) and disaggregate (43.8%) self-induced amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) aggregation. In addition, TM-10 exhibited potent antioxidant activity (ORAC = 0.52 equiv) and neuroprotective effect against Aβ1-42-mediated SH-SY5Y neurotoxicity, and it acted as an autophagic activator. TM-10 also showed good blood-brain barrier penetration. Furthermore, TM-10 exhibited a favorable dyskinesia recovery rate and response efficiency on an AlCl3-induced zebrafish AD model and a potent neuroprotective effect on Aβ1-40-induced zebrafish vascular injury. Further, in vivo assays demonstrated that TM-10 showed low acute toxicity, and the step-down passive avoidance test indicated that this compound could improve scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice. Therefore, the present study displays evidence that TM-10 is a potent, multi-functional agent against AD and could be a promising lead candidate for anti-Alzheimer's disease drug development.

A series of 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalamide derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. In vitro assays demonstrated that most of the derivatives exhibited good multifunctional activities. Among them, compound 9d showed the best inhibitory activity against both RatAChE and EeAChE (IC50 = 0.56 μM and 5.12 μM, respectively). Moreover, 9d exhibited excellent inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation (IC50 = 3.05 μM) and Cu2+-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation (71.7% at 25.0 μM), and displayed significant disaggregation ability to self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation fibrils (75.2% and 77.2% at 25.0 μM, respectively). Furthermore, 9d also showed biometal chelating abilities, antioxidant activity, anti-neuroinflammatory activities and appropriate BBB permeability. These multifunctional properties highlight 9d as promising candidate for further studies directed to the development of novel drugs against AD.

Herein, combining 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline and benzylpiperidine groups into cinnamic acid derivatives, a series of novel cinnamic acid hybrids was rationally designed, synthesized and evaluated by the multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy. Hybrid 4e was the most promising one among these hybrids with a reversible huBuChE inhibitor (IC50 = 2.5 μM) and good MAO-B inhibition activity (IC50 = 1.3 μM) and antioxidant potency (ORAC = 0.4 eq). Moreover, compound 4e significantly inhibited self-mediated Aβ1-42 aggregation (65.2% inhibition rate). Compound 4e exhibited remarkable anti-inflammatory propery and neuroprotective effect. Furthermore, compound 4e displayed favourable blood–brain barrier penetration via parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA). The obtained results also revealed that compound 4e significantly improved dyskinesia recovery rate and response efficiency on AD model zebrafish. Further, 4e did not show obvious acute toxicity at dose up to 1500 mg/kg in vivo and improved scopolamine-induced memory impairment. Importantly, compound 4e showed good stability in both artificial gastric fluid and artificial intestinal fluid. Therefore, compound 4e presented a promising multi-targeted active molecule for treating AD.

To discover novel multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, a series of 3-benzylidene/benzylphthalide Mannich base derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated. The biological screening results indicated that most of these derivatives exhibited good multifunctional activities. Among them, compound (Z)-13c raised particular interest because of its excellent multifunctional bioactivities. It displayed excellent EeAChE and HuAChE inhibition (IC50 = 9.18 × 10−5 and 6.16 × 10−4 μM, respectively), good MAO-B inhibitory activity (IC50 = 5.88 μM) and high antioxidant activity (ORAC = 2.05 Trolox equivalents). Additionally, it also exhibited good antiplatelet aggregation activity, moderate self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation inhibitory potency, disaggregation ability on Aβ1-42 fibrils, biometal chelating ability, appropriate BBB permeability and significant neuroprotective effect. Furthermore, (Z)-13c can also ameliorate the learning and memory impairment induced by scopolamine in mice. These multifunctional properties highlight compound (Z)-13c as a promising candidate for further development of multifunctional drug against AD.

A series of 6-benzyloxyphthalides were designed and synthesized as potent monoamine oxidase B inhibitors with antioxidant and anti-neuroinflammatory activities. The representative compounds 8f and 14a exhibited excellent selective MAO-B inhibition activity (IC

A novel series of O-carbamoyl ferulamide derivatives were designed by multitarget-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy, the derivatives were synthesized and evaluated to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In vitro biological evaluation demonstrated that compound 4f was the best pseudo-irreversible hBChE (human butyrylcholinesterase) inhibitor with an IC50 value of 0.97 μM 4f was a potent selective MAO-B (monoamine oxidase-B) inhibitor (IC50 = 5.3 μM), and could inhibit (58.2%) and disaggregate (43.3%) self-mediated Aβ aggregation. 4f also could reduce the levels of pathological tau and APP clearance, and displayed a wide safe range hepatotoxicity on LO2 cells. The in vivo studies revealed that 4f exhibited fascinating dyskinesia recovery rate and response efficiency on AlCl3-mediated zebrafish, and demonstrated significant protective effect on vascular injury caused by Aβ1-40. PET-CT imaging demonstrated that [11C]4f exhibited high BBB penetration (especially could reach to hippocampus and striatum of brain) and had a fast brain uptake after intravenous bolus injection. Furthermore, compound 4f could improve scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment. Further, the metabolism in vitro of 4f was also investigated, and presented 3 metabolites in rat liver microsome metabolism, 4 metabolites in human liver microsome, and 4 metabolites in rat intestinal flora, providing previous data for the preclinical study. Therefore, these results implied that compound 4f was an advanced multi-function agent and deserved further preclinical study against mild-to-serve Alzheimer’s disease.

The combination of rifampin and pyrazinamide is commonly used in the clinical treatment of tuberculosis, but its safety needs to be further clarified. Mice were intragastric administration of rifampin 300 mg/kg, pyrazinamide 625 mg/kg, rifampin 300 mg/kg plus pyrazinamide 625 mg/kg. The results showed that rifampin significantly increased transaminases, TBIL and TBA levels in serum, increased TG, TC content, HMGCR and CYP7A1 protein, CYP7A1, FGFR4, PXR, FAS and FXR mRNA expression, but decreased the level of SREBP-1c mRNA and induced severe steatohepatitis and hepatocyte necrosis in liver in mice. While pyrazinamide can improve many abnormal indexes when it used with RFP, including liver histopathology, liver TG, TC level and serum biochemistry, GPHBP1, FAS and CYP7A1 mRNA, LPL protein expression and activity induced by rifampin. However, pyrazinamide alone significantly decreased liver TG levels and caused only slight inflammatory pathological changes in liver histopathology in mice. These data suggested that rifampin increases TG and TC levels in the liver may be related to activate HMGCR, CYP7A1, PXR and FXR, theses toxic actions of rifampin were alleviated by pyrazinamide may be due to inhibite the activity of CYP7A1, PXR and FAS, and increasing the LPL protein expression and activity.

In this work, we have developed a novel series of multi-target-directed ligands to address low levels of acetylcholine (ACh), oxidative stress, metal ion dysregulation, and the misfolded proteins. Novel apigenin-donepezil derivatives, naringenin-donepezil derivatives, genistein-donepezil derivatives and chalcone-donepezil derivatives have been synthesized, in vitro results showed that TM-4 was a reversible and potent huAChE (IC50 = 0.36 μM) and huBChE (IC50 = 15.3 μM) inhibitor, and showed potent antioxidant activity (ORAC = 1.2 eq). TM-4 could significantly inhibit self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (IC50 = 3.7 μM). TM-4 was also an ideal neuroprotectant, potential metal chelation agent, and it could inhibit and disaggregate huAChE-induced and Cu2+-induced Aβ aggregation. Moreover, TM-4 could activate UPS degradation pathway in HT22 cells and induce autophagy on U87 cells to clear abnormal proteins associated with AD. More importantly, TM-4 could cross BBB in vitro assay. In addition, in vivo assay revealed that TM-4 exhibited remarkable dyskinesia recovery rate and response efficiency on AlCl3-induced zebrafish AD model, and TM-4 indicated surprising protective effect on Aβ1-40-induced vascular injury. TM-4 presented precognitive effect on scopolamine-induced memory impairment. And the regulation of multi-targets for TM-4 were further conformed through transcriptome sequencing. More interesting, the blood, urine and feces metabolism in rat and rat/human liver microsome metabolism towards TM-4 were also investigated. Overall, TM-4 is a promising multi-function candidate for the development of drugs to Alzheimer’s disease.

A series of 4′-OH-flurbiprofen-chalcone hybrids were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The biological screening results indicated that most of these hybrids exhibited good multifunctional activities. Among them, compounds 7k and 7m demonstrated the best inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation (60.0% and 78.2%, respectively) and Cu2+-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation (52.4% and 95.0%, respectively). Moreover, these two representative compounds also exhibited good antioxidant activities, MAO inhibitions, biometal chelating abilities and anti-neuroinflammatory activities in vitro. Furthermore, compound 7m displayed appropriate blood-brain barrier permeability. These multifunctional properties highlight compound 7k and 7m as promising candidates for further development of multi-functional drugs against AD.

A series of scutellarein-O-acetamidoalkylbenzylamines derivatives were designed based on a multitarget-directed ligands strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Among these compounds, compound T-22 demonstrated excellent acetylcholinesterase inhibitory, moderate inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation, Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation, human AChE-induced Aβ1-40 aggregation and disassembled Cu2+-induced aggregation of the well-structured Aβ1-42 fibrils, and also acted as potential antioxidant and biometals chelator. Both kinetic analysis of AChE inhibition and molecular modeling study suggested that T-22 interacted with both the catalytic active site and peripheral anionic site of AChE. Moreover, compound T-22 showed a good neuroprotective effect against H2O2-induced PC12 cell injury and low toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. Furthermore, the step-down passive avoidance test indicated T-22 significantly reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice. Taken together, the data showed that T-22 was an interesting multifunctional lead compound worthy of further study for AD.

A series of pyridoxine-resveratrol hybrids Mannich base derivatives as multifunctional agents have been designed, synthesized and evaluated for cholinesterase (ChE) and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitory activity. To further explore the multifunctional properties of the new derivatives, their antioxidant activities and metal-chelating properties were also tested. The results showed that most of these compounds could selectively inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and MAO-B. Among them, compounds 7d and 8b exhibited the highest potency for AChE inhibition with IC50 values of 2.11μM and 1.56μM, respectively, and compound 7e exhibited the highest MAO-B inhibition with an IC50 value of 2.68μM. The inhibition kinetic analysis revealed that compound 7d showed a mixed-type inhibition, binding simultaneously to the CAS and PAS of AChE. Molecular modeling study was also performed to investigate the binding mode of these hybrids with MAO-B. In addition, all target compounds displayed good antioxidant and metal-chelating properties. Taken together, these preliminary findings can be a new starting point for further development of multifunctional agents for Alzheimer's disease.

A series of 1-hydroxyl-3-aminoalkoxy-thioxanthone derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential multifunctional agents against Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results indicated that most of these compounds exhibited good AChE and MAOs inhibitory activities, significant inhibition of self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation, and moderate to good antioxidant activities. Specifically, compound 9e displayed high inhibitory potency toward AChE (IC50=0.59±0.02μM), MAO-A and MAO-B (IC50=1.01±0.02μM and 0.90±0.01μM respectively), excellent efficiency to block both self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (74.8±1.2% and 87.7±1.9% at 25μM, respectively), good metal-chelating property and a low toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. Furthermore, kinetic and molecular modeling studies revealed that compound 9e binds simultaneously to the catalytic active site and peripheral anionic site of AChE, and could penetrate the BBB. Collectively, these results suggested that 9e might be a potential multifunctional agent for further development in the treatment of AD.

Here we reported novel apigenin-rivastigmine hybrids were rationally designed and synthesized by the multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) strategy, their activity in vitro results revealed that compound 3d showed significant antioxidant potency (ORAC = 1.3 eq), and it was a reversible huAChE (IC50 = 6.8 μM) and huBChE (IC50 = 16.1 μM) inhibitor. 3d also served as a selective metal chelator, and it significantly inhibited and disaggregated self-mediated and Cu2+-mediated Aβ1-42 aggregation, and also inhibited hAChE-mediated induced Aβ1-40 aggregation. Compound 3d exhibited remarkable neuroprotective effect and hepatoprotective activity. In addition, compound 3d presented favourable blood-brain barrier penetration in vitro and drug-like property. Further, the in vivo assay displayed that 3d indicated remarkable dyskinesia recovery rate and response efficiency on AD zebrafish, and exhibited surprising protective effect on Aβ1-40-mediated zebrafish vascular injury. More importantly, 3d did not indicate obvious acute toxicity at dose up to 2000 mg/kg, and could improve scopolamine-induced memory impairment. Subsequently, the regulation of multi-targets for 3d were further confirmed through transcriptome sequencing of brain hippocampi, which also offered novel potential targets and opened a new way to treat Alzheimer’s disease. More interestingly, the metabolism of 3d in vitro indicated that 4 metabolites in rat liver microsome metabolism, 2 metabolites in human liver microsome metabolism, and 4 metabolites in intestinal flora metabolism, which offered supports for the preclinical study of 3d. Overall, this study exhibited that compound 3d was a promising advanced compound targeted multiple factors associated with AD.

To discover multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a series of chalcone-O-carbamate derivatives was designed and synthesized based on the multitarget-directed ligands strategy. The in vitro biological activities were evaluated including AChE/BChE inhibition, MAO-A/MAO-B inhibition, antioxidant activities, Aβ

A series of 4′-OH flurbiprofen Mannich base derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The biological screening results indicated that most of these derivatives exhibited good multifunctional activities. Among them, compound 8n demonstrated the best inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (65.03% at 25.0 μM). Moreover, this representative compound also exhibited good antioxidant activity, biometal chelating ability and anti-neuroinflammatory activity in vitro. Furthermore, compound 8n displayed appropriate blood-brain barrier permeability. These multifunctional properties highlight compound 8n as promising candidate for further development of multi-functional drugs against AD.

A novel series of dimethylamino chalcone-O-alkylamines derivatives was designed and synthesized as multifunctional agents for the treatment of AD. All the target compounds exhibited significant abilities to inhibit and disaggregate Aβ aggregation, and acted as potential selective AChE inhibitors, biometal chelators and selective MAO-B inhibitors. Among these compounds, compound TM-6 showed the greatest inhibitory activity against self-induced Aβ aggregation (IC50 = 0.88 μM) and well disaggregation ability toward self-induced Aβ aggregation (95.1%, 25 μM), the TEM images, molecular docking study and molecular dynamics simulations provided reasonable explanation for its high efficiency, and it was also found to be a remarkable antioxidant (ORAC-FL values of 2.1eq.), the best AChE inhibitor (IC50 = 0.13 μM) and MAO-B inhibitor (IC50 = 1.0 μM), as well as a good neuroprotectant. UV–visual spectrometry and ThT fluorescence assay revealed that compound TM-6 was not only a good biometal chelator by inhibiting Cu2+-induced Aβ aggregation (95.3%, 25 μM) but also could disassemble the well-structured Aβ fibrils (88.1%, 25 μM). Further, TM-6 could cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in vitro. More importantly, compound TM-6 did not show any acute toxicity in mice at doses of up to 1000 mg/kg and improved scopolamine-induced memory impairment. Taken together, these data indicated that TM-6, an excellent balanced multifunctional inhibitor, was a potential lead compound for the treatment of AD.

The multi-target-directed ligands have been regarded as the promising multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Based on our previous work, a series of genistein-O-alkylamines derivatives was developed to further explore the structure-activity-relationship. The results showed that compound 7d indicated reversible and highly selective hAChE inhibitory activity with IC50 value of 0.53 μM. Compound 7d also displayed good antioxidant activity (ORAC = 1.1 eq.), promising neuroprotective effect and selective metal chelation property. Moreover, compound 7d significantly inhibited self-induced, hAChE-induced and Cu2+-induced Aβ aggregation with 39.8%, 42.1% and 74.1%, respectively, and disaggregated Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (67.3%). In addition, compound 7d was a potential autophagy inducer and improved the levels of GPX4 protein. Furthermore, compound 7d presented good blood-brain-barrier permeability in vitro. More importantly, compound 7d did not show any acute toxicity at doses of up to 1000 mg/kg and presented good precognitive effect on scopolamine-induced memory impairment. Therefore, compound 7d was a promising multifunctional agent for the development of anti-AD drugs.

A series of 4-hydroxyl aurone derivatives were designed synthesized and evaluated as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The results demonstrated that most of the derivatives exhibited good multifunctional properties. Among them, compound 14e displayed good inhibitory activities of self- and Cu(2+)-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation with 99.2% and 84.0% at 25μM, respectively, and high antioxidant activity with a value 1.90-fold of Trolox. In addition, 14e also showed remarkable inhibitory activities of both monoamine oxidase A and B with IC50 values of 0.271μM and 0.393μM, respectively. However the 6-methoxyl aurones 15a-c revealed excellent selectivity toward MAO-B. Furthermore, the representative compounds 14e and 15b displayed good metal-chelating abilities and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeabilities in vitro.

A series of pterostilbene-O-acetamidoalkylbenzylamines were designed, synthesized and evaluated as dual inhibitors of AChE and BuChE. To further explore the multifunctional properties of the new derivatives, their antioxidant activities and inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation and HuAChE-induced Aβ1-40 aggregation were also tested. The results showed that most of these compounds could effectively inhibit AChE and BuChE. Particularly, compound 21d exhibited the best AChE inhibitory activity (IC50=0.06 μM) and good inhibition of BuChE (IC50=28.04 μM). Both the inhibition kinetic analysis and molecular modeling study revealed that these compounds showed mixed-type inhibition, binding simultaneously to the CAS and PAS of AChE. In addition to cholinesterase inhibitory activities, these compounds showed different levels of antioxidant activity. However, the inhibitory activities against self-induced and HuAChE-induced Aβ aggregation of these new derivatives were unsatisfied. Taking into account the results of the biological evaluation, further modifications will be designed in order to increase the potency on the different targets. The results displayed in this Letter can be a new starting point for further development of multifunctional agents for Alzheimer's disease.

A series of novel flurbiprofen-clioquinol hybrids were designed and synthesized as multifunctional agents for Alzheimer's disease therapy, and their potential was evaluated through various biological experiments. In vitro studies showed that most target compounds exhibited significant ability to inhibit self- and Cu2+-induced β-amyloid aggregation. Furthermore, some target compounds, especially 7i and 7r, also showed biometal chelating abilities, antioxidant activity, anti-neuroinflammatory activity and appropriate BBB permeability. These biological activities indicated that the representative compound 7i and 7r might be promising multifunctional agents for AD treatment.

A series of phthalide alkyl tertiary amine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential multi-target agents against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The results indicated that almost all the compounds displayed significant AChE inhibitory and selective activities. Besides, most of the derivatives exhibited increased self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation inhibitory activity compared to the lead compound dl -NBP, and some compounds also exerted good antioxidant activity. Specifically, compound I-8 showed the highest inhibitory potency toward AChE (IC50 = 2.66 nM), which was significantly better than Donepezil (IC50 = 26.4 nM). Moreover, molecular docking studies revealed that compound I-8 could bind to both the catalytic active site and peripheral anionic site of AChE. Furthermore, compound I-8 displayed excellent BBB permeability in vitro. Importantly, the step-down passive avoidance test indicated that I-8 significantly reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice. Collectively, these results suggested that I-8 might be a potent and selective AChE inhibitor for further anti-AD drug development.

A series of salicylamide derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. In vitro assays demonstrated that most of the derivatives were selective AChE inhibitors. They showed good inhibitory activities of self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation, and significant antioxidant activities. Among them, compound 15b exhibited good inhibitory activity toward RatAChE and EeAChE with IC50 value of 10.4 μM and 15.2 μM, respectively. Moreover, 15b displayed high antioxidant activity (2.46 Trolox equivalents), good self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation inhibitory potency (42.5% and 31.4% at 25.0 μM, respectively) and moderate disaggregation ability to self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation fibrils (23.4% and 27.0% at 25 μM, respectively). Furthermore, 15b also showed biometal chelating abilities, anti-neuroinflammatory ability and BBB permeability. These multifunctional properties indicated compound 15b was worthy of being chosen for further pharmacokinetics, toxicity and behavioral researches to test its potential for AD treatment.

A series of pterostilbene β-amino alcohol derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In vitro assays demonstrated that most of the derivatives were selective acetylacholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors with moderate multifunctional properties. Among them, compound 5f exhibited the best inhibitory activity for EeAChE (IC50 = 24.04 μM), that was better than pterostilbene under our experimental condition. In addition, compound 5f displayed reasonable antioxidant activity and could confer significant neuroprotective effect against H2O2-induced PC-12 cell injury. Moreover, 5f also showed self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation inhibitory potency and displayed high BBB permeability in vitro. These multifunctional properties highlight 5f as a promising candidate for further studies directed to the development of novel drugs against AD.

A series of 5,6-dimethoxybenzo[d]isothiazol-3(2H)-one-N-alkylbenzylamine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The in vitro assays indicated that most of these derivatives were selective AChE inhibitors with good multifunctional properties. Among them, compounds 11b and 11d displayed comprehensive advantages, with good AChE (IC50 = 0.29 ± 0.01 μM and 0.46 ± 0.02 μM, respectively), MAO-A (IC50 = 8.2 ± 0.08 μM and 7.9 ± 0.07 μM, respectively) and MAO-B (IC50 = 20.1 ± 0.16 μM and 43.8 ± 2.0% at 10 μM, respectively) inhibitory activities, moderate self-induced Aβ1–42 aggregation inhibitory potency (35.4 ± 0.42% and 48.0 ± 1.53% at 25 μM, respectively) and potential antioxidant activity. In addition, the two representative compounds displayed high BBB permeability in vitro. Taken together, these multifunctional properties make 11b and 11d as a promising candidate for the development of efficient drugs against AD.

A series of scutellarein-O-alkylamine derivatives were designed, synthesized and tested as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results showed that most of these compounds exhibited good multifunctional activities. Among them, compound 16d demonstrated significant metal chelating properties, moderate acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory and anti-oxidative activity, and excellent inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ(1-42) aggregation, Cu(2+)-induced Aβ(1-42) aggregation, human AChE-induced Aβ(1-40) aggregation and disassembled Cu(2+)-induced aggregation of the well-structured Aβ(1-42) fibrils. Both kinetic analysis of AChE inhibition and molecular modeling study suggested that 16d binds simultaneously to the catalytic active site and peripheral anionic site of AChE. Moreover, compound 16d showed a good protective effect against H2O2-induced PC12 cell injury, with low toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. Furthermore, the step-down passive avoidance test showed this compound significantly reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice. Thus, 16d was shown to be an interesting multifunctional lead compound worthy of further study.

To discover multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a series of scutellarein carbamate derivatives were designed and synthesized based on the multitarget-directed ligand strategy. Their acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activities, antioxidant activities, metal-chelating properties and neuroprotective effects against hydrogen peroxide induced PC12 cell injury were evaluated in vitro. The results showed that most of the synthetic compounds exhibited good multifunctional activities. In particular, compound 15c exhibited dual inhibitory potency on acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase with IC50 values of 0.57 and 22.6μM, respectively, and good antioxidative activity, with a value 1.3-fold of Trolox. In addition, 15c acted as a selective biometal chelator and possessed neuroprotective effects. Furthermore, 15c could cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in vitro and had significant neuroprotective effects in scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in mice. Taken together, these results suggest that compound 15c might be a potential multifunctional agent for the treatment of AD.

A series of genistein derivatives with carbon spacer-linked alkylbenzylamines were designed, synthesized and tested as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results showed that most of these compounds exhibited good acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity, with moderate-to-good anti-oxidative activity. Specifically, compounds 10b, 19d and 25d exhibited significant inhibition of β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregation and exhibited metal chelating properties. In particular, 25d inhibited: self-induced Aβ₁₋₄₂ aggregation, Cu(2+)-induced Aβ₁₋₄₂ aggregation, and human AChE-induced Aβ₁₋₄₀ aggregation by 35%, 77.8%, and 36.2%, respectively. Moreover, both kinetic analysis of AChE inhibition and the molecular modeling study suggested that 25d binds simultaneously to catalytic active site and peripheral anionic site of AChE. More importantly, compound 25d disassembled the well-structured Aβ fibrils generated by Cu(2+)-induced Aβ aggregation by 72.1%. Furthermore, the step-down passive avoidance test showed this compound significantly reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice. These results suggest that 25d may be a promising multifunctional agent for AD treatment.

A series of novel ferulic acid-O-alkylamines derivatives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as multitarget-directed ligands against Alzheimer's disease. In vitro studies displayed that all the synthesized target compounds showed impressive inhibitory activity against butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), significant inhibition/disaggregation of self-induced β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregation and acted as potential antioxidants. Particularly, compound 7f, one of the most potent BuChE inhibitor (IC50 value of 0.021 μM for equine serum BuChE, 8.63 μM for ratBuChE and 0.07 μM for human serum BuChE), was found to be a good acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor (IC50 = 2.13 μM for electric eel AChE, 1.8 μM for ratAChE and 3.82 μM for human erythrocytes AChE), and the result of molecular docking provided an explanation for its selective BuChE inhibitory activity. Compound 7f also had noteworthy inhibitory effects on self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (50.8 ± 0.82%) and was found to disaggregate self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation (38.7 ± 0.65%), which was further elucidated by the transmission electron microscopy. Meanwhile, compound 7f showed the modest antioxidant activity (0.55 eq of Trolox), good protective effect against H2O2-induced PC12 cell injury, with low toxicity. Moreover, compound 7f could cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in vitro. Significantly, compound 7f did not exhibit any acute toxicity in mice at doses up to 1000 mg/kg, and the step-down passive avoidance test showed this compound significantly reversed scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice. Taken together, the results indicated that compound 7f is a very promising multifunctional agent in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, particularly the advanced stages of AD.

Pterostilbene and resveratrol carbamate derivatives were designed and synthesized by use of a multi-target directed drug-design strategy. Their acetylcholinesterase and butylcholinesterase inhibitory activity and neuroprotective effects against hydrogen peroxide-induced PC12 cell injury were evaluated in vitro. The results indicated that some of the compounds had dual inhibitory potency against acetylcholinesterase and butylcholinesterase, and potential neuroprotective effects, and could be considered as potential multi-target-directed agents.

Considering the complex etiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), multifunctional agents may be beneficial for the treatment of this disease. A series of DL-3-n-butylphthalide-Edaravone hybrids were designed, synthesized and evaluated as novel dual inhibitors of amyloid-β aggregation and monoamine oxidases. Among them, compounds 9a-d exhibited good inhibition of self-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation with inhibition ratio 57.7-71.5%. For MAO, these new hybrids exhibited good balance of inhibition for MAO-A and MAO-B. In addition, all target compounds retained the antioxidant activity of edaravone, showed equal or better antioxidant activity than edaravone. The results of the parallel artificial membrane permeability assay for blood-brain barrier indicated that compounds 9a-d would be able to cross the blood-brain barrier and reach their biological targets in the central nervous system. The promising results in all assays demonstrated that the strategy behind the designing of compounds was rational and favourable. Taken together, these preliminary findings suggested that the compounds with the strongest bioactivity deserves further investigated for pharmacological development in AD therapy.

A series of aurone Mannich base derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In vitro assays demonstrated that most of the derivatives were selective AChE inhibitors with good multifunctional properties. Among them, compound 7d exhibited outstanding inhibitory activity for RatAChE, EeAChE and HuAChE (IC50 = 0.00878 ± 0.0002 μM, 0.0212 ± 0.006 μM and 0.0371 ± 0.004 μM, respectively). Moreover, 7d displayed high antioxidant activity and could confer significant neuroprotective effect against H2O2-induced PC-12 cell injury. In addition, 7d also showed biometal chelating abilities, good self- and Cu2+-induced Aβ1-42 aggregation inhibitory potency and high BBB permeability. These multifunctional properties highlight 7d as promising candidate for further studies directed to the development of novel drugs against AD.

A series of chromone-2-carboxamido-alkylbenzylamines were designed, synthesized and evaluated as multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The results showed that most of these compounds exhibited good multifunctional activities. Among them, compound 49 displayed excellent inhibitory potency toward acetylcholinesterase (AChE), moderate anti-oxidative activity, selective biometal chelating, and possessed good inhibitory effects on self-induced and Cu(2+)-induced Aβ aggregation. Both kinetic analysis of AChE inhibition and molecular modeling study indicated that 49 was a mixed-type inhibitor, binding simultaneously to the catalytic active site and peripheral anionic site of AChE. These results suggested that 49 might be a potential multifunctional agent for AD treatment.

Ethnopharmacological significance Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are ingredients extracted from traditional Chinese medicinal herb Panax notoginseng. It has been demonstrated that PNS have extensive effects on the cardiovascular system, including inhibition of platelet aggregation, increasing blood flow, improving left ventricular diastolic function in hypertensive patients and anti-inflammatory effect. Aim of study Recent researches indicated that PNS administration inhibited foam cells’ formation. The present study was designed to study the effects of PNS on atherogenesis and to explore the relevant molecular mechanisms. Materials and methods The Zymosan A induced atherosclerosis models were used to investigate the anti-atherosclerosis effects of PNS. The integrin express array was used to check the changes of integrins. The foam cell formation was observed with transmission electron microscope. The effect of PNS on phosphorylation of FAK on threonine 397 and protein level of NF-κB was also evaluated in vitro. Results PNS treated rats had less plaque spots on the aortas compared with Zym induced group. The formation of foam cell was inhibited by PNS. Compared with Zym treated group, the expression of most integrin families decreased except Itgav and Itgb2 after PNS treatment. PNS inhibited phosphorylation of FAK on threonine 397 and translocation of NF-κB. Conclusion High fat diet together with Zym induces atherogenesis of rat. PNS inhibits zymosan A induced atherogenesis by suppressing FAK phosphorylation, integrins expression and NF-κB translocation.