A series of mono-, di- and tri-valent iminosugars based on oligoethylene scaffolds and N-substituted deoxynojirymicin epitopes have been synthesized by “click chemistry” to study the effect of multivalency on glycosidase inhibition. Biological evaluation evidenced differences in the inhibition trends as a function of the enzyme nature. The results demonstrate that multivalency can be used in some case to modulate both the affinity and the selectivity of glycosidase inhibition.

Lysosomal β-galactosidase (β-Gal) deficiency causes a group of disorders that include neuronopathic GM₁ gangliosidosis and non-neuronopathic Morquio B disease. We have previously proposed the use of small molecule ligands of β-Gal as pharmacological chaperones (PCs) for the treatment of GM₁ gangliosidosis brain pathology. Although it is still under development, PC therapy has yielded promising preclinical results in several lysosomal diseases. In this study, we evaluated the effect of bicyclic 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin (DGJ) derivative of the sp²-iminosugar type, namely 5N,6S-(N′-butyliminomethylidene)-6-thio-1- deoxygalactonojirimycin (6S-NBI-DGJ), as a novel PC for human mutant β-Gal. In vitro, 6S-NBI-DGJ had the ability to inhibit the activity of human β-Gal in a competitive manner and was able to protect this enzyme from heat-induced degradation. Computational analysis supported that the rigid glycone bicyclic core of 6S-NBI-DGJ binds to the active site of the enzyme, with the aglycone N′-butyl substituent, in a precise E-orientation, located at a hydrophobic region nearby. Chaperone potential profiling indicated significant increases of enzyme activity in 24 of 88 β-Gal mutants, including four common mutations. Finally, oral administration of 6S-NBI-DGJ ameliorated the brain pathology of GM₁ gangliosidosis model mice. These results suggest that 6S-NBI-DGJ is a novel PC that may be effective on a broad range of β-Gal mutants.