Novel thienocycloalkylpyridazinones as useful scaffolds for acetylcholinesterase inhibition and serotonin 5-HT receptor interaction.

A library of eighteen thienocycloalkylpyridazinones was synthesized for human acetylcholinesterase (hAChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE) inhibition and serotonin 5-HT receptor subtype interaction by following a multitarget-directed ligand approach (MTDL), as a suitable strategy for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The novel compounds featured a tricyclic scaffold, namely thieno[3,2-h]cinnolinone, thienocyclopentapyridazinone and thienocycloheptapyridazinone, connected through alkyl chains of variable length to proper amine moieties, most often represented by N-benzylpiperazine or 1-(phenylsulfonyl)-4-(piperazin-1-ylmethyl)-1H-indole as structural elements addressing AChE and 5-HT interaction, respectively. Our study highlighted the versatility of thienocycloalkylpyridazinones as useful architectures for AChE interaction, with several N-benzylpiperazine-based analogues emerging as potent and selective hAChE inhibitors with IC in the 0.17-1.23 μM range, exhibiting low to poor activity for hBChE (IC = 4.13-9.70 μM). The introduction of 5-HT structural moiety phenylsulfonylindole in place of N-benzylpiperazine, in tandem with a pentamethylene linker, gave potent 5-HT thieno[3,2-h]cinnolinone and thienocyclopentapyridazinone-based ligands both displaying hAChE inhibition in the low micromolar range and unappreciable activity towards hBChE. While docking studies provided a rational structural explanation for AChE/BChE enzyme and 5-HT receptor interaction, in silico prediction of ADME properties of tested compounds suggested further optimization for development of such compounds in the field of MTDL for AD.