Expression and therapeutic relevance of heat-shock protein 90 in pancreatic endocrine tumors

Pancreatic endocrine tumors (PET) represent a heterogenous group of neoplasms. Although surgical resection is considered a safe and effective treatment for many PET, therapeutic options for inoperable and progressive PET are limited. The expression of heat-shock protein (HSP) 90 was investigated in 120 clinically and pathomorphologically well-characterized PET from 84 patients using immunohistochemistry. In addition, in 19 snap-frozen PET and in three healthy pancreatic tissues, we performed immunoblot analyses, and in 15 snap-frozen PET and in three healthy pancreatic tissues, we investigated the expression of HSP90 isoforms by means of semiquantitative RT-PCR. Functional tests were conducted using the human pancreas carcinoid cell line BON and the mouse insulinoma cell line beta-TC-3. HSP90 was expressed in 95% of the PET patients. The transcript levels of the HSP90 isoforms HSP90 alpha, HSP90 beta, glucose-related protein 94, and TNF receptor-associated protein 1 were significantly increased in PET compared with non-neoplastic pancreatic tissues. The treatment of the cell lines BON and beta-TC-3 with the HSP90 inhibitors 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin and 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxy-geldanamycin resulted in significant, dose-dependent reduction of cell viability, cell cycle arrest, and increased apoptosis. Furthermore, HSP90 inhibition induced the degradation and inactivation of several oncogenetic HSP90 client proteins in a time- and dose-dependent manner. HSP90 inhibitors increased the therapeutic effects of doxorubicin and 5-fluorucacil in BON and beta-TC-3 cells. HSP90 is expressed in the vast majority of PET and its inhibition reveals significant treatment effects in vitro. Thus, HSP90 qualifies as a promising new target. Endocrine-Related Cancer (2012) 19 217-232