2. Academic Validation
  3. Steroid-Quinoline Hybrids for Disruption and Reversion of Protein Aggregation Processes

Steroid-Quinoline Hybrids for Disruption and Reversion of Protein Aggregation Processes

  • ACS Med Chem Lett. 2022 Feb 14;13(3):443-448. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00604.
Hélio M T Albuquerque 1,  Raquel Nunes da Silva 1 2,  Marisa Pereira 2,  André Maia 3,  Samuel Guieu 1 4,  Ana Raquel Soares 2,  Clementina M M Santos 1 5,  Sandra I Vieira 2,  Artur M S Silva 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
  • 2 Department of Medical Sciences and Institute of Biomedicine, IBiMED, University of Aveiro, Agras do Crasto, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
  • 3 Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S) and Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal.
  • 4 CICECO Aveiro-Institute of Materials and Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3010-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
  • 5 Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-252 Bragança, Portugal.
PMID: 35300075 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00604
Abstract

Reversing protein aggregation within cells may be an important tool to fight protein-misfolding disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cardiovascular diseases. Here we report the design and synthesis of a family of steroid-quinoline hybrid compounds based on the framework combination approach. This set of hybrid compounds effectively inhibited Aβ1-42 self-aggregation in vitro by delaying the exponential growth phase and/or reducing the quantity of fibrils in the steady state. Their disaggregation efficacy was further demonstrated against preaggregated Aβ1-42 Peptides in cellular assays upon their endocytosis by neuroblastoma cells, as they reverted both the number and the average area of fibrils back to basal levels. The antiaggregation effect of these hybrids was further tested and demonstrated in a cellular model of general protein aggregation expressing a protein aggregation fluorescent sensor. Together, our results show that the new cholesterol-quinoline hybrids possess wide and marked disaggregation capacities and are therefore promising templates for the development of new drugs to deal with conformational disorders.

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