Exploration of Neuroprotective Properties of a Naturally Inspired Multifunctional Molecule (F24) against Oxidative Stress and Amyloid beta Induced Neurotoxicity in Alzheimer's Disease Models

The pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are manifested as an increase in the level of oxidative stress and aggregation of the amyloid-fl protein. In vitro, in vivo, and in silico experiments were designed and carried out with multifunctional cholinergic inhibitor, F24 (EJMC-7a) to explore its neuroprotective effects in AD models. The neuroprotection ability of F24 was tested in SH-SY5Y cells, a widely used neuronal cell line. The pretreatment and subsequent co-treatment of SH-SY5Y cells with different doses of F24 was effective in rescuing the cells from H2O2 induced neurotoxicity. F24 treated cells were found to be effective in the reduction of cellular reactive oxygen species, DNA damage, and Afl1-42 induced neurotoxicity, which validated its neuroprotective effectiveness. F24 exhibited efficacy in an in vivo Drosophila model by rescuing eye phenotypes from degeneration caused by Afl toxicity. Further, computational studies were carried out to monitor the interaction between F24 and Afl1-42 aggregates. The computational studies corroborated our in vitro and in vivo studies suggesting Afl1-42 aggregation modulation ability of F24. The brain entry ability of F24 was studied in the parallel artificial membrane permeability assay. Finally, F24 was tested at doses of 1 and 2.5 mg/kg in the Morris water maze AD model. The neuroprotective properties shown by F24 strongly suggest that multifunctional features of this molecule provide symptomatic relief and act as a disease-modifying agent in the treatment of AD. The results from our experiments strongly indicated that natural template-based F24 could serve as a lead molecule for further investigation to explore multifunctional therapeutic agents for AD management.