Novel C-terminal heat shock protein 90 inhibitors target breast cancer stem cells and block migration, self-renewal, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition

In patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), evidence suggests that tumor-initiating cells (TIC) have stem cell-like properties, leading to invasion and metastasis. HSP90 plays a critical role in the conformational maintenance of many client proteins in TIC development. Therefore, we hypothesize that the novel C-terminal HSP90 inhibitors KU711 and KU758 can target TIC and represent a promising strategy for overcoming metastasis. Human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-468LN, MDA-MB-231) treated with the HSP90 inhibitors KU711, KU758, and 17-AAG showed a 50–80% decrease in TIC markers CD44 and aldehyde dehydrogenase (P < 0.01) as assessed by flow cytometry. A decrease in sphere formation, which was used to assess self-renewal, was observed after the treatment of TNBC cells starting at 2.5 µm KU711 and 0.31 µm KU758. KU compounds also blocked the invasion and migration of TNBC cells in a dose-dependent manner. The knockdown of HSP90 clients was observed without any change in prosurvival HSP70 levels. In vivo, in a murine orthotopic breast cancer model, treatment with KU758 and KU711 yielded an approximately twofold and a fourfold reduction in tumor volumes versus control, respectively, without demonstrated toxicity. In conclusion, C-terminal HSP90 inhibitors are potent novel therapeutics against TNBC in vitro and in vivo as they target TICs and block invasion, EMT transition, and self-renewal