Acetylcholineestarase-inhibiting alkaloids from Lycoris radiata delay paralysis of amyloid beta-expressing transgenic C. elegans CL4176.

The limited symptom relief and side effects of current Alzheimer's disease (AD) medications warrant urgent discovery and study of new anti-AD agents. The "cholinergic hypothesis" of AD prompts us to search for plant-derived acetylcholineesterase (AChE) inhibitors such as galanthamine that has been licensed in Europe for AD treatment. We used the unique amyloid β-expressing transgenic C. elegans CL4176, which exhibits paralysis when human Aβ1-42 is induced, to study two natural benzylphenethylamine alkaloids isolated from Lycoris radiata (L' Her.) Herb, galanthamine and haemanthidine, and their synthetic derivatives 1,2-Di-O-acetyllycorine and 1-O-acetyllycorine for their anti-paralysis effects. Our data indicate that these Lycoris compounds effectively delay the paralysis of CL4176 worms upon temperature up-shift, and prolong the lives of these transgenic worms. Lycoris compounds were shown to significantly inhibit the gene expression of ace-1 and ace-2. Additionally, the Lycoris compounds may modulate inflammatory and stress-related gene expressions to combat the Aβ-toxicity in C. elegans.