Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a
molecular chaperone involved in the stability of many client
proteins, including
androgen receptor (AR) and
survivin, making Hsp90 an attractive molecular therapeutic target for
prostate cancer. Several Hsp90 inhibitors have shown antitumor activity in various preclinical models and in clinical trials.
Geldanamycin is a well-known inhibitor of Hsp90, but its associated liver toxicity limited its clinical development. Here, we report a highly effective and low-hepatotoxic
geldanamycin derivative that exhibits antitumor activity against human
prostate cancer cells. Treatment of cells with
17-DMCHAG (17-(6-(3,4-dimethoxycinnamamido)hexylamino)-17-demethoxy-geldanamycin) dose-dependently suppressed the proliferation, reduced colony formation and induced apoptosis of human
prostate cancer cell lines.
17-DMCHAG exhibits anti-invasive and anti-migratory activities in
prostate cancer cells through down-regulating of
transcription factors Zeb1, Snail1, Slug, and mesenchymal marker
Vimentin, while up-regulating the epithelial marker of
E-cadherin. Furthermore,
17-DMCHAG treatment damaged the Hsp90/AR and Hsp90/
survivin complexes and induced the
proteasome-dependent degradation of AR and
survivin, then inhibited the activity of these two
proteins. In vivo, we observed that
17-DMCHAG showed strong antitumor effects in LNCaP and DU-145 cell-xenografted nude mice. Thus,
17-DMCHAG is a potential treatment for
prostate cancer.