A novel Hsp90 inhibitor AT13387 induces senescence in EBV-positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and suppresses tumor formation.

Background: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial malignancy strongly associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). AT13387 is a novel heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, which inhibits the chaperone function of Hsp90 and reduces expression of Hsp90-dependent client oncoproteins. This study aimed to evaluate both the in vitro and in vivo antitumor effects of AT13387 in the EBV-positive NPC cell line C666-1.

Mechanisms of 2-methoxyestradiol-induced apoptosis and G2/M cell-cycle arrest of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME2) is an endogenous metabolite of 17beta-estradiol (E(2)). This study aims to examine the anti-tumour activities of 2ME2 on the poorly differentiated HONE-1 NPC cell line. At the concentration of 1 microM, 2ME2 was found to induce a short-term reversible G2/M cell-cycle arrest.