In HepG2 cells, Ro 48-8071 reduces cholesterol synthesis dose dependently with an IC50 value of appr 1.5 nM. Ro 48-8071 (10 μM) significantly reduces the viability of PC-3 prostate cancer cells, but not normal prostate cells. Ro 48-8071 (10-30 μM) induces apoptosis of both LNCaP and C4-2 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. And castration-resistant PC-3 and DU145 cells also demonstrate significant levels of apoptosis following 24-hour treatment with Ro 48-8071. Ro 48-8071 (10-25 μM) reduces AR protein expression in a dose-dependent manner. Ro 48-8071 (0.1-1 μM) increases ERβ protein expression dose-dependently in both hormone-dependent LNCaP and castration-resistant PC-3 cells. Using mammalian cells engineered to express human ERα or ERβ protein, together with an ER-responsive luciferase promoter, Ro 48-8071 dose-dependently inhibits 17β-estradiol (E2)-induced ERα responsive luciferase activity (IC50, appr 10 μM), under conditions that are non-toxic to the cells.