The benzyloxy substituted small molecules are well-known highly potent monoamine oxidase B inhibitors, but their therapeutic potential against Parkinson's disease have not been investigated in detail. In this paper, a series of representative benzyloxy substituted derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for MAO-A/B inhibition. In addition, their neuroprotective effects were investigated in 6-OHDA- and rotenone-treated PC12 cells. It was observed that most of the compounds exhibited a marked increase in survival of PC12 cells which treated with the neurotoxins. Among them, 13 exhibited remarkable and balanced neuroprotective potency. The protective effects of 13 against neurotoxins-induced apoptosis were confirmed with flow cytometry and staining methods. Furthermore, 13 also showed good BBB permeability and low toxicity according to in vitro BBB prediction and in vivo acute toxicity test. The results indicated that 13 is an effective and promising candidate to be further developed as disease-modifying drug for Parkinson's disease therapy.
Keywords: Apoptosis; BBB permeability; Monoamine oxidase; Neuroprotection; Parkinson’s disease.
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