Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Dihydropyranopyrazole Derivatives as Novel PDE2 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Molecules. 2021 May 19;26(10):3034. doi: 10.3390/molecules26103034.

Abstract

Phosphodiesterase 2 (PDE2) has been regarded as a novel target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we obtained (R)-LZ77 as a hit compound with moderate PDE2 inhibitory activity (IC50 = 261.3 nM) using a high-throughput virtual screening method based on molecular dynamics. Then, we designed and synthesized 28 dihydropyranopyrazole derivatives as PDE2 inhibitors. Among them, compound (+)-11h was the most potent PDE2 inhibitor, with an IC50 value of 41.5 nM. The molecular docking of PDE2-(+)-11h reveals that the 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzyl)oxyl side chain of the compound enters the H-pocket and forms strong hydrophobic interactions with L770/L809/F862, which improves inhibitory activity. The above results may provide insight for further structural optimization of highly potent PDE2 inhibitors and may lay the foundation for their use in the treatment of AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; PDE2 inhibitors; dihydropyranopyrazole derivatives.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / drug therapy*
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Humans
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Pyrazoles / chemical synthesis
  • Pyrazoles / chemistry*
  • Pyrazoles / pharmacology*
  • Spectrum Analysis / methods

Substances

  • Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors
  • Pyrazoles