Discovery of novel HSP90 inhibitors that induced apoptosis and impaired autophagic flux in A549 lung cancer cells.

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibition has aroused increasing enthusiasm in antitumor strategies in recent years. According to our previous studies, we synthesized a series of coumarin pyrazoline compounds HCP1-HCP6 that might be HSP90 inhibitors. Interactions between HCP1-HCP6 and HSP90 were examined and antitumor activities of them were investigated in A549 lung cancer cells. Results showed that all the six derivatives could interact with HSP90, in which HCP1 exhibited the best binding ability and inhibited the activity of HSP90. Meanwhile, HCP1-HCP6 reduced the cell viability of A549 cells and HCP1 possessed the lowest IC value. Above all HCP1 exerted better HSP90 inhibitory and anticancer effects than our initially identified HSP90 inhibitor DPB. As to the underlying mechanism, HCP1-HCP6 not only induced apoptosis as DPB but also blocked autophagic flux in A549 cells. Therefore, we discovered a novel HSP90 inhibitor HCP1 that had better biological activity and provided us a useful tool to explore the underlying mechanism of lung cancer therapy.