Screening acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from marine-derived actinomycetes by simple chromatography

Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of Acetylcholine [Ach] cholinergic synapses in the central and peripheral nervous systems. As a result, AChE inhibitors promote an increase in the concentration and length of Ach synaptic activity. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchEIs) are currently considered the best therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s patients. The potential sources of the current AChE inhibitors are predominantly plants. However, some of these drugs are known to have disadvantages such as limited half-life or side-effect such as hepatotoxicity. Marine microorganisms are a potential new source of the enzyme inhibitors. Since their rich and diverse metabolites have a wide range of biological activities, one of them is an actinomycetes of special interest in antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to screen AChE inhibitors from marine-derived actinomycetes using a simple method, thin layer chromatography (TLC). In addition, TLC was used for the determination of solvents for adsorption of actinomycetes AchE inhibitors. The results showed that the combination of chloroform/methanol = 80/20 had the best AchE inhibitor separation performance, while the combination of DCM/methanol = 90/10 should be considered if the gradient elution was selected during the separation process.