Guo-Wen Xing

Transcriptomic and proteomic approach to studying SNX-2112-induced K562 cells apoptosis and anti-leukemia activity in K562-NOD/SCID mice.

MINT‐ 7033976 : BAD (uniprotkb:Q92934) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Bcl2‐Xl (uniprotkb:Q07817) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)

SNX-2112, an Hsp90 inhibitor, induces apoptosis and autophagy via degradation of Hsp90 client proteins in human melanoma A-375 cells

SNX-2112 is an Hsp90 inhibitor which is currently undergoing multiple phase 1 clinical trials; however, its mechanism of action needs to be further elaborated. Here we investigated the effects of SNX-2112 in A-375 cells. SNX-2112 induced the degradation of multiple Hsp90 client proteins, activated both the mitochondrial-mediated and death receptor-mediated apoptotic pathways, downregulated Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, upregulated Bid, cleaved caspase-9, caspase-7, caspase-3 and PARP, and activated caspase-8. The general caspase inhibitor, z-VAD-fmk, did not completely abolish SNX-2112-induced cell death. SNX-2112 induced autophagy in a time- and dose-dependent manner via Akt/mTOR/p70S6K inhibition. SNX-2112 induces significant apoptosis and autophagy in human melanoma A-375 cells, and may be an effective targeted therapy agent.

Synthesis and in vitro anti-HSV-1 activity of a novel Hsp90 inhibitor BJ-B11

In this study, a novel Hsp90 inhibitor BJ-B11, was synthesized and evaluated for in vitro antiviral activity against several viruses. Possible anti-HSV-1 mechanisms were also investigated. BJ-B11 displayed no antiviral activity against coxsackievirus B(3) (CVB(3)), human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza virus (H1N1), but exhibited potent anti-HSV-1 and HSV-2 activity with EC(50) values of 0.42±0.18 μM and 0.60±0.21 μM, respectively. Additionally, the inhibitory effects of BJ-B11 against HSV-1 were likely to be introduced at early stage of infection. Our results indicate that BJ-B11 with alternative mechanisms of action is potent as an anti-HSV clinical trial candidate.

BJ-B11, a novel Hsp90 inhibitor, induces apoptosis in human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells through the mitochondria-dependent pathway.

In the past few years heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors have been reported to possess significant antitumor activity. We investigated, for the first time, the antitumor activity of a novel Hsp90 inhibitor 2-(4-acetyloxycyclohexylamino)-4-(3, 6, 6-trimethyl-4-oxo-4, 5, 6, 7-tetrahydro-1H-indazol-1-yl)-benzamide (BJ-B11) and the molecular mechanism underlying the apoptosis it induces in human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells. The results revealed that BJ-B11 triggered growth inhibition in K562 cells and other malignant cell lines in vitro with only minor toxicity in a normal human cell line. BJ-B11 inhibited the proliferation of K562 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, with IC(50) values of 1.1 ± 0.2 μM and 0.4 ± 0.1 μM after 48 and 72 h incubations respectively. This most likely results from cell cycle arrest at the G(0)/G(1) phase and the induction of apoptosis. In addition, BJ-B11 degraded the Hsp90 client proteins Bcr-Abl and Akt, induced activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, and subsequent cleavage of PARP. The caspase signals may originate from mitochondrial dysfunction, which is supported by the finding of cytochrome c release. In addition, inactivation of the Akt signaling pathway may be involved in the process of BJ-B11-induced apoptosis. Taken together, our data provide a putative molecular mechanism for the anticancer effect of BJ-B11 on K562 cells, and suggest a potential application for BJ-B11 in chronic myeloid leukemia therapy.

Anti-herpes simplex virus efficacies of 2-aminobenzamide derivatives as novel HSP90 inhibitors

After the widespread use of the acyclic purine nucleoside analogues for therapy of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection since the 1980s, new antiviral strategies are urgently needed to counter the emergence of drug-resistant clinical isolates. In this report, we define the anti-HSV efficacies of three optimized 2-aminobenzamide derivatives in vitro and in vivo. The synthetic analogues SNX-25a, SNX-2112 and SNX-7081, which selectively bind to the N-terminal ATP pocket of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), exhibited significant anti-HSV-1 and HSV-2 activities at non-cytotoxic concentrations in Vero cells, with EC(50) values close to that of acyclovir (ACV). The in vivo antiviral potentials were then confirmed using a herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) rabbit model, where eye gels containing 0.1% or 0.025% SNX-25a displayed the highest efficacies against HSV-1 infection, which were better than that obtained with 0.1% ACV. SNX-2112 and SNX-7081 gels were also effective against HSV-1 with different magnitude of activities. Our results for the first time confirmed the anti-HSV efficacies of these 2-aminobenzamide derivatives and suggest that with alternative mechanisms of action these novel HSP90 inhibitors, especially SNX-25a, could be potent as new anti-HSV clinical trial candidates.

Determination of SNX-2112, a selective Hsp90 inhibitor, in plasma samples by high-performance liquid chromatography and its application to pharmacokinetics in rats

A sensitive and specific reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with ultraviolet detection has been developed and validated for the identification and quantification of SNX-2112 in rat plasma. Following sample preparation using liquid-liquid extraction, the analytes were separated by the mobile phase acetonitrile-water (40:60, v/v) with an Agilent RP-HPLC column (ZORBAX SB-C18, 5 microm, 4.6 mm x 250 mm) at a flow rate of 1 ml/min, column temperature of 30 degrees C and detection wavelength of 251 nm. The retention time of SNX-2112 was 11.2 min. A good linear relationship was obtained in the concentration range studied (0.07-21 microg/ml, R(2)>0.9982), and the LLOD and LLOQ for SNX-2112 were 0.02 and 0.07 microg/ml, respectively. The mean absolute recovery of SNX-2112 in plasma ranged from 88.58 to 99.61% at the studied concentrations. The intra- and inter-batch relative standard deviations were 1.7-3.5 and 1.9-4.4%, respectively. This method was successfully applied to pharmacokinetic studies in rats after intravenous administration of SNX-2112.

Preclinical pharmacokinetic analysis of SNX-2112, a novel Hsp90 inhibitor, in rats

SNX-2112 is a novel Hsp90 inhibitor. The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, plasma protein binding and excretion profiles of SNX-2112 in Sprague-Dawley rats after a single intravenous injection. The pharmacokinetic properties of SNX-2112 were examined after a single i.v. injection of 2.5, 5, and 10mg/kg to rats, respectively. The tissue distribution and urinary, fecal, and biliary excretion patterns of SNX-2112 were investigated following a single i.v. injection of 10mg/kg. The results suggested that the pharmacokinetic properties of SNX-2112 fitted well into a two-compartment open model with t(1/2β) values of 9.96±4.32, 10.43±4.06, 10.41±4.38h and area under the curve values of 7.62±1.03, 8.10±0.77, 15.80±1.00(μg/mL) h according to the single doses of 2.5, 5, and 10mg/kg, respectively. Approximately 0.13±0.09% and 3.62±0.77% of SNX-2112 were excreted via the urine and feces within 72h, respectively; 2.59±0.67% was excreted into the bile up to 24h after a single i.v. injection of 10mg/kg. The major elimination route was therefore through excretion in the feces. The binding rate of SNX-2112 with plasma protein was found to be concentration-dependent. In conclusion, this study first provided the full pharmacokinetic characteristics and tissue distribution of SNX-2112, which would be helpful for its clinical regiment design.