Development of unsymmetrical dyads as potent noncarbohydrate-based inhibitors against human β-N-acetyl-D-hexosaminidase

Human β-N-acetyl-D-hexosaminidase has gained much attention due to its roles in several pathological processes and been considered as potential targets for disease therapy. A novel and efficient skeleton, which was an unsymmetrical dyad containing naphthalimide and methoxyphenyl moieties with an alkylamine spacer linkage as a noncarbohydrate-based inhibitor, was synthesized, and the activities were valuated against human β-N-acetyl-D- hexosaminidase. The most potent inhibitor exhibits high inhibitory activity with K_i values of 0.63 μM. The straightforward synthetic manners of these unsymmetrical dyads and understanding of the binding model could be advantageous for further structure optimization and development of new therapeutic agents for Hex-related diseases.