Thiazolidinedione “Magic Bullets” Simultaneously Targeting PPARγ and HDACs: Design, Synthesis, and Investigations of their In Vitro and In Vivo Antitumor Effects

Monotargeting anticancer agents suffer from resistance and target nonspecificity concerns, which can be tackled with a multitargeting approach. The combined treatment with HDAC inhibitors and PPARγ agonists has displayed potential antitumor effects. Based on these observations, this work involves design and synthesis of molecules that can simultaneously target PPARγ and HDAC. Several out of 25 compounds inhibited HDAC4, and six compounds acted as dual-targeting agents. Compound 7i was the most potent, with activity toward PPARγ EC50 = 0.245 μM and HDAC4 IC50 = 1.1 μM. Additionally, compounds 7c and 7i were cytotoxic to CCRF-CEM cells (CC50 = 2.8 and 9.6 μM, respectively), induced apoptosis, and caused DNA fragmentation. Furthermore, compound 7c modulated the expression of c-Myc, cleaved caspase-3, and caused in vivo tumor regression in CCRF-CEM tumor xenografts. Thus, this study provides a basis for the rational design of dual/multitargeting agents that could be developed further as anticancer therapeutics.