An Impermeant Ganetespib Analog Inhibits Extracellular Hsp90-Mediated Cancer Cell Migration that Involves Lysyl Oxidase 2-like Protein

Extracellular Hsp90 (eHsp90) activates a number of client proteins outside of cancer cells required for migration and invasion. Therefore, eHsp90 may serve as a novel target for anti-metastatic drugs as its inhibition using impermeant Hsp90 inhibitors would not affect the numerous vital intracellular Hsp90 functions in normal cells. While some eHsp90 clients are known, it is important to establish other proteins that act outside the cell to validate eHsp90 as a drug target to limit cancer spread. Using mass spectrometry we identified two precursor proteins Galectin 3 binding protein (G3BP) and Lysyl oxidase 2-like protein (LOXL2) that associate with eHsp90 in MDA-MB231 breast cancer cell conditioned media and confirmed that LOXL2 binds to eHsp90 in immunoprecipitates. We introduce a novel impermeant Hsp90 inhibitor STA-12-7191 derived from ganetespib and show that it is markedly less toxic to cells and can inhibit cancer cell migration in a dose dependent manner. We used STA-12-7191 to test if LOXL2 and G3BP are potential eHsp90 clients. We showed that while LOXL2 can increase wound healing and compensate for STA-12-7191-mediated inhibition of wound closure, addition of G3BP had no affect on this assay. These findings support of role for LOXL2 in eHsp90 stimulated cancer cell migration and provide preliminary evidence for the use of STA-12-7191 to inhibit eHsp90 to limit cancer invasion

Zinc Transporters YbtX and ZnuABC Are Required for the Virulence of \u3cem\u3eYersinia pestis\u3c/em\u3e in Bubonic and Pneumonic Plague in Mice

A number of bacterial pathogens require the ZnuABC Zinc (Zn2+) transporter and/or a second Zn2+ transport system to overcome Zn2+ sequestration by mammalian hosts. Previously we have shown that in addition to ZnuABC, Yersinia pestis possesses a second Zn2+ transporter that involves components of the yersiniabactin (Ybt), siderophore-dependent iron transport system. Synthesis of the Ybt siderophore and YbtX, a member of the major facilitator superfamily, are both critical components of the second Zn2+ transport system. Here we demonstrate that a ybtX znu double mutant is essentially avirulent in mouse models of bubonic and pneumonic plague while a ybtX mutant retains high virulence in both plague models. While sequestration of host Zn is a key nutritional immunity factor, excess Zn appears to have a significant antimicrobial role in controlling intracellular bacterial survival. Here, we demonstrate that ZntA, a Zn2+ exporter, plays a role in resistance to Zn toxicity in vitro, but that a zntA zur double mutant retains high virulence in both pneumonic and bubonic plague models and survival in macrophages. We also confirm that Ybt does not directly bind Zn2+in vitro under the conditions tested. However, we detect a significant increase in Zn2+-binding ability of filtered supernatants from a Ybt+ strain compared to those from a strain unable to produce the siderophore, supporting our previously published data that Ybt biosynthetic genes are involved in the production of a secreted Zn-binding molecule (zincophore). Our data suggest that Ybt or a modified Ybt participate in or promote Zn-binding activity in culture supernatants and is involved in Zn acquisition in Y. pestis