Rodrigo Tomas-Grau, Florencia González-Lizárraga, Diego Ploper, César L. Avila, Sergio B. Socías, Pierre Besnault, Aurore Tourville, Rosa M. Mella, Patricia Villacé, Clarisa Salado, Clémence Rose, Blandine Seon-Méniel, Jean-Michel Brunel, Laurent Ferrié, Rita Raisman-Vozari, Patrick P. Michel, Bruno Figadère, Rosana Chehín, Instituto de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Celular Aplicada, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas [Buenos Aires] (CONICET), Department of Psychology, University Jaume I, Avenguda de Vicent Sos Baynat, 12 071 Castellón de la Plana, Spain, Institut du Cerveau = Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Innoprot SL, Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique (LaMP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), Biomolécules : Conception, Isolement, Synthèse (BioCIS), Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-CY Cergy Paris Université (CY), Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Marseille (CRCM), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Fédération nationale des Centres de lutte contre le Cancer (FNCLCC)-Fédération nationale des Centres de lutte contre le Cancer (FNCLCC)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Joseph Louis LAGRANGE (LAGRANGE), Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (1965 - 2019) (UNS), COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) (COMUE UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Université Côte d'Azur (UCA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Association France Parkinson (GAO 2018, DOXY-PARK), PIP-CONICET 0183, PIP-CONICET 11220130100619CO, PICT-MINCyT 2012–2882, PIUNT-UNT D542/1, the Scientific and Technological Promotion National Agency—Argentina (PICT 2018-2989/PICT 2018-3379/PICT 2020-2255), and Tucumán National University grants PIUNT 2020 andPIUNT D644/1. PICT-2020-SERIEA-III-A Raíces (III), Ferrié, Laurent, CHU Pitié-Salpêtrière [AP-HP], Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) (AP-HP)-Sorbonne Université (SU), Innovative Technologies in Biological Systems (INNOPROT), Membranes et cibles thérapeutiques (MCT), and Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Institut de Recherche Biomédicale des Armées [Brétigny-sur-Orge] (IRBA)
The antibiotic tetracycline demeclocycline (DMC) was recently reported to rescue α-synuclein (α-Syn) fibril-induced pathology. However, the antimicrobial activity of DMC precludes its po-tential use in long-term neuroprotective treatments. Here, we synthesized a DMC derivative with residual antibiotic activity and improved neuroprotective effects. The molecule, called de-rivative demeclocycline (DDMC), was obtained by the removal of both dimethylamino substitu-ents at position 4 and the reduction of the hydroxyl group at position 12a on ring A of DMC. The modifications strongly diminished its antibiotic activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, this compound preserved the low toxicity of DMC in dopaminergic cell lines while improving its ability to interfere with α-Syn amyloid-like aggregation, showing the highest effectiveness of all tetracyclines tested. Likewise, DDMC demonstrated the ability to reduce seeding induced by the exogenous addition of α-Syn preformed fibrils (α-SynPFF ) in ex vitro models and in SH-SY5Y-α-Syn-tRFP cells. In addition, in the presence of DDMC, α-SynPFF were less inflammogenic, as they dampened the release of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and glutamate by microglial cells compared to control fibrils. Our results suggest that DDMC may be a promising drug candidate for hit-to-lead development and preclinical studies in PD and other synucleinopathies.