Hsp90 inhibitors identified from a library of novobiocin analogues

Novobiocin is a C-terminal inhibitor of the Hsp90 protein folding machinery, which is responsible for the conformational maturation of numerous proteins involved in cancer growth and survival. Due to novobiocin's poor inhibitory activity ( approximately 700 muM), very little attention has been paid toward the development of novobiocin analogues for Hsp90 inhibition. In this study, a parallel library of 20 novobiocin derivatives was prepared and the biological activity of each evaluated by Western blot analysis of Hsp90 client proteins. A4 was found to be a potent inhibitor of Hsp90 as determined by its ability to cause the degradation of several Hsp90 client proteins in both breast and prostate cancer cell lines. In the presence of 1 muM A4, several Hsp90 client proteins were degraded, including AKT, Her2, Hif-1alpha, and the androgen receptor.