The Design and Evaluation of a Novel Monoamine Oxidase B Inhibitor Through in Silico Approach

Parkinson’s disease is an age related neurodegenerative disease. Pioglitazone is a Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonist that has been shown to display a neuroprotective effect in parkinsonian models (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine treated mice). This effect was partially attributed to the ability of thiazolidinedione (TZD) moiety in Pioglitazone to selectively inhibit monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B) enzyme. In the current study, we screened several thiazolidine containing compounds against MAO-B enzyme both in silico and in vitro. Based on the resulted data and information from previous literatures, we were able to design a novel scaffold for MAO-B inhibitors. This scaffold (compound 5482440) was able to inhibit MAO-B enzyme with IC50 value of 1.447 μM. Structure-based virtual analysis showed that this compound was able to participate in water-bridge formation and obtain an extended conformation within MAO-B active site.