Identification of Novel Oxindole Compounds That Suppress ER Stress-Induced Cell Death as Chemical Chaperones

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative stress lead to protein misfolding, and the resulting accumulation of protein aggregates is often associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and prion disease. Small molecules preventing these pathogenic processes may be effective interventions for such neurodegenerative disorders. In this paper, we identify several novel oxindole compounds that can prevent ER stress- and oxidative stress-induced cell death. Among them, derivatives of the lead compound GIF-0726-r in which a hydrogen atom at the oxindole ring 5 position is substituted with a methyl (GIF-0852-r), bromine (GIF-0854-r), or nitro (GIF-0856-r) group potently suppressed global ER stress. Furthermore, GIF-0854-r and -0856-r prevented protein aggregate accumulation in vitro and in cultured hippocampal HT22 neuronal cells, indicating that these two compounds function effectively as chemical chaperones. In addition, GIF-0852-r, -0854-r, and -0856-r prevented glutamate-induced oxytosis and erastin-induced ferroptosis. Collectively, these results suggest that the novel oxindole compounds GIF-0854-r and -0856-r may be useful therapeutics against protein-misfolding diseases as well as valuable research tools for studying the molecular mechanisms of ER and oxidative stress.