The novel HSP90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922 shows synergistic anti-leukemic activity with cytarabine in vivo

HSP90 is a molecular chaperone essential for stability, activity and intracellular sorting of many proteins, including oncoproteins, such as tyrosine kinases, transcription factors and cell cycle regulatory proteins. Therefore, inhibitors of HSP90 are being investigated for their potential as anti-cancer drugs. Here we show that the HSP90 inhibitor NVP-AUY922 induced degradation of the fusion oncoprotein FOP2-FGFR1 in a human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell line, KG-1a. Concordantly, downstream signaling cascades, such as STAT1, STAT3 and PLCγ were abrogated. At concentrations that caused FOP2-FGFR1 degradation and signaling abrogation, NVP-AUY922 treatment caused significant cell death and inhibition of proliferation of KG-1a cells in vitro. In an animal model for AML, NVP-AUY922 administrated alone showed no anti-leukemic activity. However, when NVP-AUY922 was administered in combination with cytarabine, the two compounds showed significant synergistic anti-leukemic activity in vivo. Thus NVP-AUY922 and cytarabine combination therapy might be a prospective strategy for AML treatment. - Highlights: • NVP-AUY922 induces degradation of the oncoprotein FOP2-FGFR1 in KG-1a leukemia cells. • NVP-AUY922 induces cell death and inhibition of proliferation of KG-1a cells. • NYP-AUY922 combined with cytarabine shows synergistic anti-leukemic activity in vivo.