AI Article Synopsis

  • Research indicates that the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) is a key factor in Alzheimer's disease (AD), making it a potential target for treatments aimed at slowing down disease progression.
  • A cholinesterase inhibitor called phenserine has been found to reduce the production of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and A beta, but it requires high doses that limit its effectiveness due to side effects.
  • The study screened 144 phenserine analogs to find compounds that can inhibit APP synthesis without significant acetylcholinesterase activity; eight candidates were identified that effectively reduced APP and A beta production in human cells without toxicity, showing promise for further research as potential AD therapies.

Article Abstract

A wealth of independent research with transgenic mice, antibodies, and vaccines has pointed to a causative role of the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Based on these and earlier associative studies, A beta represents a promising target for development of therapeutics focused on AD disease progression. Interestingly, a cholinesterase inhibitor currently in clinical trials, phenserine, has been shown to inhibit production of both amyloid precursor protein (APP) and A beta. We have shown that this inhibition occurs at the post-transcriptional level with a specific blocking of the synthesis of APP relative to total protein synthesis (Shaw et al., 2001). However, the dose of phenserine necessary to block APP production is far higher than that needed to elicit its anticholinesterase activity, and it is these latter actions that are dose limiting in vivo. The focus of this study was to screen 144 analogs of phenserine to identify additional small molecules that inhibit APP protein synthesis, and thereby A beta production, without possessing potent acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to identify analogs capable of suppressing APP production following treatment of human neuroblastoma cells with 20 muM of compound. Eight analogs were capable of dose dependently reducing APP and A beta production without causing cell toxicity in further studies. Several of these analogs had little to no AChE activities. Translation of APP and A beta actions to mice was demonstrated with one agent. They thus represent interesting lead molecules for assessment in animal models, to define their tolerance and utility as potential AD therapeutics.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1124/jpet.106.103309DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

protein synthesis
12
app beta
12
amyloid precursor
8
precursor protein
8
alzheimer's disease
8
amyloid-beta peptide
8
app production
8
beta production
8
analogs capable
8
app
7

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!