Heterodimeric GW7604 Derivatives: Modification of the Pharmacological Profile by Additional Interactions at the Coactivator Binding Site

( E / Z )-3-(4-(( E )-1-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)-2-phenylbut-1-enyl)phenyl)acrylic acid (GW7604) as a derivative of ( Z )-4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT) was linked by diaminoalkane spacers to molecules that are known binders to the coactivator binding site (benzimidazole or thioxo-quinazolinone scaffolds). With this modification, an optimization of the pharmacological profile was achieved. The most active thioxo-quinazolinone derivative 16 showed extraordinarily high affinity to the estrogen receptor (ER) β (RBA = 110%), inhibited effectively the coactivator recruitment (IC 50 = 20.88 nM (ERα) and 28.34 nM (ERβ)), acted as a pure estradiol (E2) antagonist in a transactivation assay (IC 50 = 18.5 nM (ERα) and 7.5 nM (ERβ)), and downregulated the ERα content in MCF-7 cells with an efficacy of 60% at 1 μM. The cytotoxicity was restricted to hormone-dependent MCF-7 (IC 50 = 4.2 nM) and tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7TamR cells (IC 50 = 476.6 nM). The compounds bearing a thioxo-quinazolinone moiety can therefore be assigned as pure E2-antagonistic selective ER degraders/downregulators. By contrast, the benzimidazole derivatives acted solely as pure antagonists without degradation of the ER.