Hyperbolic mixed-type inhibition of acetylcholinesterase by tetracyclic thienopyrimidines

A series of tetracyclic thienopyrimidines (7-14) was prepared and investigated as inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase from Electrophorus electricus acetylcholinesterase (EeAChE), as well as human acetylcholinesterase (hAChE) and human butyrylcholinesterase (hBChE). A new synthetic procedure was employed for the synthesis of the angularly fused heterocycles 7-10. Among them, the presence of a tetrahydropyrido ring with a benzyl rest at the basic nitrogen was required for EeAChE inhibition. A detailed kinetic analysis of the hyperbolic mixed-type inhibition of EeAChE by 9-14 was performed. These heterocyclic compounds inhibited EeAChE with K(i) values of less than 3 µM. Most α values were relatively close to 1, indicating a similar affinity of the inhibitor to the free enzyme and the enzyme-substrate complex. Inhibitor 10 displayed a rather uncompetitive pattern of inhibition (α = 0.47) and a relatively high residual activity of a postulated ternary enzyme-substrate-inhibitor complex (β = 0.24).