Synthesis and biological evaluation of some pyrimidine derivatives as multifunctional ligands for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease


Ozturk Ö., Oyardı Ö., Sagkan R. I., Dündar Y.

BIOORGANIC & MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY, cilt.132, 2026 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 132
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.bmc.2025.118445
  • Dergi Adı: BIOORGANIC & MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, EMBASE, MEDLINE
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), and sphingomyelinase (SMase) enzymes are among its therapeutic targets. In this study, a series of tetrahydropyrimidine and hexahydropyrimidine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibition of Bacillus cereus SMase, electric eel AChE (EeAChE), and equine BuChE (eqBuChE) as potential agents against AD. Among the synthesized compounds, 4-oxo-6-(pyridin-2-yl)-2-thioxohexahydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile (compound 24) was found to be the most active compound against B. cereus SMase, with an IC50 value of 1.61 mu M. In addition, 2-(benzylthio)-4-octyl-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile (compound 14) and 4-octyl6-oxo-2-(phenethylthio)-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-5-carbonitrile (compound 16) exhibited selective eqBuChE inhibition with IC50 values of 3.68 and 1.65 mu M, respectively. The mode of inhibition of the selected compounds was determined by enzyme kinetic study. These compounds were also examined for their metal-chelating properties with various biometals and effect of B. cereus-induced hemolysis on sheep erythrocytes. Additionally, compound 24 showed no cytotoxic effect on the HUVEC cell line at its IC50 concentration. The biological data were supported by the results of molecular docking studies, and in-silico physicochemical properties/ADME predictions of the selected compounds were determined.