γ-Secretase modulator 4 is a potent γ-secretase modulator, reduces the Aβ42 level with IC50s of 0.017 μM and 0.014 μM in mouse and human, respectively.
Donecopride is a partial agonist of the serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtype 5-HT4E(Ki= 8.5 nM) and an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE; IC50= 16 nM).1It is selective for AChE over butyrylcholinesterase (BChE; IC50= 3,530 nM) but does bind to 5-HT2Band sigma-2 (σ2) receptors (Ki= 1.6 nM for both) in a panel of 42 neurotransmitter receptors and transporters. Donecopride induces release of soluble amyloid precursor protein-α (sAPP-α) in COS-7 cells transiently expressing 5-HT4with an EC50value of 11.3 nM. Oral administration of donecopride (1 mg/kg) reduces brain soluble and insoluble amyloid-β (1-42) levels and increases the time spent exploring the novel object in the novel object recognition (NOR) test in the 5XFAD transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Donecopride (3 mg/kg, p.o.) prevents a reduction in spontaneous alternation behavior induced by intracerebroventricular administration of soluble Aβ42 (sAβ42) in the Y-maze in mice.2 1.Lecoutey, C., Hedou, D., Freret, T., et al.Design of donecopride, a dual serotonin subtype 4 receptor agonist/acetylcholinesterase inhibitor with potential interest for Alzheimer's disease treatmentProc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA111(36)E3825-E3830(2014) 2.Rochais, C., Lecoutey, C., Hamidouche, K., et al.Donecopride, a Swiss army knife with potential against Alzheimer's diseaseBr. J. Pharmacol.177(9)1988-2005(2020)
Amyloid-β (1-42) (Aβ42) is a neurotoxic 42-amino acid protein fragment found in amyloid plaques in postmortem cerebral cortex from patients with Alzheimer's disease.1,2,3Aggregation of Aβ42 results in the formation of neurotoxic fibrils or globular oligomers.1Aβ42 accumulates in the brain of many transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and, in many models, the onset of amyloid deposition positively correlates with deficits in spatial learning and memory.4 1.Wolfe, M.S.Therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's diseaseNat. Rev. Drug Discov.1(11)859-866(2002) 2.Iwatsubo, T., Odaka, A., Suzuki, N., et al.Visualization of Aβ42(43) and Aβ40 in senile plaques with end-specific Aβ monoclonals: Evidence that an initially deposited species is Aβ42(43)Neuron13(1)45-53(1994) 3.Hardy, J.A., and Higgins, G.A.Alzheimer's disease: The amyloid cascade hypothesisScience256(5054)184-185(1992) 4.Jankowsky, J.L., and Zheng, H.Practical considerations for choosing a mouse model of Alzheimer's diseaseMol. Neurodegener.12(1)89(2017)