Tamoxifen-Based Dimers: Design, Synthesis, Cell Viability Evaluation on Breast Cancer Cells, and Computational Insights


ERTUĞRUL ÇELİK B., Aytatli A., Karatas O. F., EŞSİZ S., Aksakal F., SARAÇOĞLU N.

Archiv der Pharmazie, cilt.359, sa.5, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 359 Sayı: 5
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1002/ardp.70260
  • Dergi Adı: Archiv der Pharmazie
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, EMBASE
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: breast cancer, density functional theory, dimeric compounds, drug resistance, molecular docking, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), tamoxifen
  • Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Tamoxifen (TMX) resistance presents a significant challenge in the treatment of ER+ breast cancer. In this study, four novel tamoxifen-based dimers were synthesized and evaluated for their antitumor activities. Among these, (Z,Z)-1 exhibited potent antiproliferative effects in ER+ cells, demonstrating selective toxicity toward cancer cells over normal cells. (Z,Z)-1 significantly outperformed tamoxifen with IC50 values of 9.18 μM (24 h) and 6.86 μM (48 h) against MCF-7 cells. Additionally, it showed greater selectivity toward ER+ breast cancer cells compared with both triple-negative cancer cells and non-cancerous cells. Mechanistic studies indicated that (Z,Z)-1 induces apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through a cell-cycle-independent mechanism, unlike TMX, which arrests cells at the G0/G1 phase. These findings suggest that (Z,Z)-1 may be a promising candidate for further development as an alternative to tamoxifen therapy in ER+ breast cancer treatment. The docking studies revealed that (Z,Z)-1 exhibits the strong binding affinity to ERα, highlighting its potential as a promising therapeutic candidate for ER+ breast cancer treatment.