1. Academic Validation
  2. Heat shock protein 90 inhibitor BIIB021 (CNF2024) depletes NF-kappaB and sensitizes Hodgkin's lymphoma cells for natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity

Heat shock protein 90 inhibitor BIIB021 (CNF2024) depletes NF-kappaB and sensitizes Hodgkin's lymphoma cells for natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity

  • Clin Cancer Res. 2009 Aug 15;15(16):5108-16. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-09-0213.
Boris Böll 1 Farag Eltaib Katrin S Reiners Bastian von Tresckow Samir Tawadros Venkateswara R Simhadri Francis J Burrows Karen Lundgren Hinrich P Hansen Andreas Engert Elke Pogge von Strandmann
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Laboratory of Immunotherapy, Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany. [email protected]
Abstract

Purpose: In Hodgkin's lymphoma, constitutive activation of NF-kappaB promotes tumor cell survival and proliferation. The molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) has immune regulatory activity and supports the activation of NF-kappaB in Hodgkin's lymphoma cells.

Experimental design: We analyzed the effect of HSP90 inhibition on viability and NF-kappaB activity in Hodgkin's lymphoma cells and the consequences for their recognition and killing through natural killer (NK) cells.

Results: The novel orally administrable HSP90 Inhibitor BIIB021 (CNF2024) inhibited Hodgkin's lymphoma cell viability at low nanomolar concentrations in synergy with doxorubicin and gemcitabine. Annexin V/7-aminoactinomycin D binding assay revealed that BIIB021 selectively induced cell death in Hodgkin's lymphoma cells but not in lymphocytes from healthy individuals. We observed that BIIB021 inhibited the constitutive activity of NF-kappaB and this was independent of IkappaB mutations. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of HSP90 inhibition on NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. BIIB021 induced the expression of ligands for the activating NK cell receptor NKG2D on Hodgkin's lymphoma cells resulting in an increased susceptibility to NK cell-mediated killing. In a xenograft model of Hodgkin's lymphoma, HSP90 inhibition significantly delayed tumor growth.

Conclusions: HSP90 inhibition has direct antitumor activity in Hodgkin's lymphoma in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, HSP90 inhibition may sensitize Hodgkin's lymphoma cells for NK cell-mediated killing via up-regulation of ligands engaging activating NK cell receptors.

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