Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of donepezil-safinamide hybrids as dual AChE and MAO-B inhibitor for Alzheimer’s disease treatment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) still lacks therapies that definitively halt its progression. Dual AChE/MAO-B inhibitors offer a promising strategy to address both symptoms and pathology. Here, we designed and synthesised a series of donepezil-safinamide hybrids. The optimised compound 28c was identified as a potent inhibitor of AChE (IC50 = 1.70 μM) and MAO-B (IC50 = 0.18 μM). Mechanistic studies indicated that 28c acts as a reversible mixed-type inhibitor of AChE and a competitive reversible inhibitor of MAO-B. Molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulations revealed that 28c could strongly and stably bind to MAO-B and AChE mainly through van der Waals interactions. Moreover, compound 28c demonstrated effective blood-brain barrier penetration, exhibited suitable stability in mouse plasma and brain homogenate, and showed a favourable safety profile both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, 28c could attenuate AD-related symptoms and exert hippocampal neuroprotection effect in vivo, highlighting its promise as an anti-AD candidate.