Virtual screening discovery of new acetylcholinesterase inhibitors issued from CERMN chemical library.

In our quest to find new inhibitors able to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and, at the same time, to protect neurons from beta amyloid toxicity, i.e., inhibitors interacting with the catalytic anionic subsite as well as with the peripherical anionic site of AChE, a virtual screening of the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche sur le Medicament de Normandie (CERMN) chemical library was carried out. Two complementary approaches were applied, i.e., a ligand- and a structure-based screening. Each screening led to the selection of different compounds, but only two were present in both screening results. In vitro tests on AChE showed that one of those compounds presented a very good inhibition activity, of the same order as Donepezil. This result shows the real complementary of both methods for the discovery of new ligands.