biomolecules Article Exploring Structure-Activity Relationship in Tacrine-Squaramide Derivatives as Potent Cholinesterase Inhibitors 1,2, 1,2,3, 1,2 1,2 Barbora Svobodova y, Eva Mezeiova y, Vendula Hepnarova , Martina Hrabinova , Lubica Muckova 1,2 , Tereza Kobrlova 1 , Daniel Jun 1,2 , Ondrej Soukup 1,2, María Luisa Jimeno 4, José Marco-Contelles 3,* and Jan Korabecny 1,2,* 1 Department of Toxicology and Military Pharmacy, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, Trebesska 1575, 500 01 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic 2 Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Sokolska 581, 500 05 Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic 3 Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of General Organic Chemistry, Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006-Madrid, Spain 4 Centro de Química Orgánica “Lora-Tamayo” (CSIC), C/Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006-Madrid, Spain * Correspondence:
[email protected] (J.M.-C.);
[email protected] (J.K.); Tel.: +34-91-2587554 (J.M.-C.); +420-495-833-447 (J.K.) These authors contributed equally to this paper. y Received: 2 August 2019; Accepted: 17 August 2019; Published: 19 August 2019 Abstract: Tacrine was the first drug to be approved for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) treatment, acting as a cholinesterase inhibitor. The neuropathological hallmarks of AD are amyloid-rich senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal degeneration. The portfolio of currently approved drugs for AD includes acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. Squaric acid is a versatile structural scaffold capable to be easily transformed into amide-bearing compounds that feature both hydrogen bond donor and acceptor groups with the possibility to create multiple interactions with complementary sites.