A novel compound RS-0466 reverses beta-amyloid-induced cytotoxicity through the Akt signaling pathway in vitro

beta-Amyloid peptide is the principal protein in the senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease and is considered to be responsible for the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Several studies have shown that beta-amyloid is cytotoxic, using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) as an indicator of viability in cells. Utilizing the MTT assay, we screened an in-house library to find compounds that suppress beta-amyloid-induced inhibition of MTT reduction. From among the screening hits, we focused on 6-ethyl-N,N'-bis(3-hydroxyphenyl)[1,3,5]triazine-2,4-diamine (named RS-0466), which had been newly synthesized in our laboratory. This compound was found to be capable of significantly inhibiting beta-amyloid-induced cytotoxicity in HeLa cells and of reversing the decrease of phosphorylated Akt induced by beta-amyloid. Furthermore, RS-0466 reversed the beta-amyloid-induced impairment of long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal slices. These results raise the possibility that RS-0466 or its derivatives have potential as a therapeutic agent for Alzheimer's disease patients, and its effect is at least in part mediated by activation of Akt.