Characterization of a Novel Family of Contilisant + Belinostat Multitarget Small Molecules in Glioblastoma

<b>Background</b>: Glioblastoma is the most common and malignant primary brain tumor in adults, with current treatment presenting limited effectiveness. Therapeutic resistance stems largely from its marked molecular and cellular heterogeneity. Multitarget small molecules (MSMs) have emerged as a promising strategy for treating complex diseases such as cancer. In the present work, we generated a novel family of indole-based MSMs engineered to inhibit histone deacetylases (HDACs), monoamine oxidases (MAOs) and cholinesterases (ChEs) while simultaneously acting as histamine H₃ receptor (H3R) antagonists and sigma-1 receptor (S1R) agonists. <b>Methods</b>: To accomplish this, we combined selected pharmacophoric moieties from the parent compounds Contilisant and the HDAC pan-inhibitor Belinostat. Nine MSMs were synthesized. <b>Results</b>: Most of them showed cytotoxic activity in glioma cells. Among them, three molecules (MTP142, MTP156 and MTP150) were prioritized based on potency; these compounds impaired glioma stem cell (GSC) activity and were predicted to cross the blood-brain barrier. In vivo and multi-omic analyses centered on MTP150 showed significant tumor growth inhibition, both as monotherapy and in combination with temozolomide (TMZ). Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling of patient-derived GSCs revealed MTP150-induced disruption of cell cycle regulation pathways. <b>Conclusions</b>: Our data reveal the efficacy of a novel family of MSMs in the pre-clinical setting of glioblastoma.