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We present the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of compounds containing a 2-(benzylidene)hexanoic acid scaffold as multi-target directed γ-secretase-modulators. Broad structural variations were undertaken to elucidate the structure–activity-relationships at the 5-position of the aromatic core. Compound 13 showed the most potent activity profile with IC50 values of 0.79 μM (Aβ42), 0.3 μM (5-lipoxygenase) and an EC50 value of 4.64 μM for PPARγ-activation. This derivative is the first compound exhibiting low micromolar to nanomolar activities for these three targets. Combining γ-secretase-modulation, PPARγ-agonism and inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase in one compound could be a novel disease-modifying multi-target-strategy for Alzheimer’s disease to concurrently address the causative amyloid pathology and secondary pathologies like chronic brain inflammation.

The concept of dual PPARα/γ activation was originally proposed as a new approach for the treatment of the metabolic syndrome. However, recent results indicated that PPARα as well as PPARγ activation might also be beneficial in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer. We have recently identified aminothiazole-featured pirinixic acids as dual 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) and microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 (mPGES-1) inhibitors. Here we present the structure-activity relationship of these aminothiazole-featured pirinixic acids as dual PPARα/γ agonists and discuss their advantages with their potential as dual 5-LO/mPGES-1 inhibitors in inflammatory and cancer diseases. Various pirinixic acid derivatives had already been identified as dual PPARα/γ agonists. However, within this series of aminothiazole-featured pirinixic acids we were able to identify the most potent selective PPARγ agonistic pirinixic acid derivative (compound 13, (2-[(4-chloro-6-{[4-(naphthalen-2-yl)-1,3-thiazol-2-yl]amino}pyrimidin-2-yl)sulfanyl]octanoic acid)). Therefore, docking of 13 on PPARγ was performed to determine the potential binding mode.

Nuclear farnesoid X receptor (FXR) has important physiological roles in various metabolic pathways including bile acid, cholesterol and glucose homeostasis. The clinical use of known synthetic non-steroidal FXR ligands is restricted due to toxicity or poor bioavailability. Here we report the development, synthesis, in vitro activity and structure-activity relationship (SAR) of anthranilic acid derivatives as novel FXR ligands. Starting from a virtual screening hit we optimized the scaffold to a series of potent partial FXR agonists with appealing drug-like properties. The most potent derivative exhibited an EC50 value of 1.5±0.2 μM and 37±2% maximum relative FXR activation. We investigated its SAR regarding polar interactions with the receptor by generating derivatives and computational docking.