• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.423-434
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• 2019

HSP90 is a molecular chaperone that increases the stability of client proteins. Cancer cells show higher HSP90 expression than normal cells because many client proteins play an important role in the growth and survival of cancer cells. HSP90 inhibitors mainly bind to the ATP binding site of HSP90 and inhibit HSP90 activity, and these inhibitors can be distinguished as ansamycin and non-ansamycin depending on the structure. In addition, the histone deacetylase inhibitors inhibit the activity of HSP90 through acetylation of HSP90. These HSP90 inhibitors have undergone or are undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of cancer. On the other hand, recent studies have reported that various reagents induce cleavage of HSP90, resulting in reduced HSP90 client proteins and growth suppression in cancer cells. Cleavage of HSP90 can be divided into enzymatic cleavage and non-enzymatic cleavage. Therefore, reagents inducing cleavage of HSP90 can be classified as another class of HSP90 inhibitors. We discuss that the cleavage of HSP90 can be another mechanism in the cancer treatment by HSP90 inhibition.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.115-122
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• 2024

Heat shock protein (HSP) 90 is expressed in most living organisms, and several client proteins of HSP90 are necessary for cancer cell survival and growth. Previously, we found that HSP90 was cleaved by histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and proteasome inhibitors, and the cleavage of HSP90 contributes to their cytotoxicity in K562 leukemia cells. In this study, we first established mouse xenograft models with K562 cells expressing the wild-type or cleavage-resistant mutant HSP90β and found that the suppression of tumor growth by the HDAC inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) was interrupted by the mutation inhibiting the HSP90 cleavage in vivo. Next, we investigated the possible function of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) in the HSP90 cleavage induced by SAHA. TXNIP is a negative regulator for thioredoxin, an antioxidant protein. SAHA transcriptionally induced the expression of TXNIP in K562 cells. HSP90 cleavage was induced by SAHA also in the thymocytes of normal mice and suppressed by an anti-oxidant and pan-caspase inhibitor. When the thymocytes from the TXNIP knockout mice and their wild-type littermate control mice were treated with SAHA, the HSP90 cleavage was detected in the thymocytes of the littermate controls but suppressed in those of the TXNIP knockout mice suggesting the requirement of TXNIP for HSP90 cleavage. We additionally found that HSP90 cleavage was induced by actinomycin D, β-mercaptoethanol, and p38 MAPK inhibitor PD169316 suggesting its prevalence. Taken together, we suggest that HSP90 cleavage occurs also in vivo and contributes to the anti-cancer activity of various drugs in a TXNIP-dependent manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.542-550
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• 2018

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is treated as a molecular therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of cancer. Geldanamycin (GA) was the first identified natural Hsp90 inhibitor, but hepatotoxicity has limited its clinical application. Nevertheless, a new GA analog (WK-88-1) with the non-benzoquinone skeleton, obtained from genetically engineered Streptomyces hygroscopicus, was found to have anticancer activity against two human breast cancer cell lines. WK-88-1 produced concentration-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive MCF-7 and ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Detailed analysis showed that WK-88-1 downregulated some key cell cycle molecules (CDK1 and cyclin B1) and lead to $G_2/M$ cell cycle arrest. Further studies also showed that WK-88-1 could induce human breast cancer cell apoptosis by downregulating Hsp90 client proteins (Akt, p-Akt, IKK, c-Raf, and Bcl-2), decreasing the ATP level, increasing reactive oxygen species production, and lowering the mitochondrial membrane potential. Meanwhile, we discovered that WK-88-1 significantly decreased the levels of Her-2 and $ER-{\alpha}$ in MCF-7 cells but not in MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, WK-88-1 significantly increased caspase-3, -8, and -9 activities and the cleavage of PARP in a concentration-dependent manner (with the exception of caspase-3 and PARP in MCF-7 cells). Taken together, our preliminary results suggest that WK-88-1 has the potential to play a role in breast cancer therapy.