Abstract. HER2 has become a solicitous therapeutic target in metastatic and clinical drug-resistant cancer. Here, we evaluated whether or not 1-benzyl-3-(5-hydroxymethyl-2-furyl) indazole (YC-1) and its furopyrazole and thienopyrazole analogues repress the expression of the HER2 protein. Among the test compounds, (1-benzyl-3-(p-hydroxymethylphenyl)-5-methylfuro[3,2-c]pyrazol) (CLC604), an isosteric analogue of YC-1, significantly suppressed the expression of HER2, and preferentially inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in HER2-overexpressing cancer cells. Our results revealed that CLC604 reduced HER2 expression through a post-transcriptional mechanism and involvement of proteasomal activity. CLC604 disrupted the association of 90-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) with HER2 resulting from the inhibition of Hsp90 ATPase activity. Moreover, we found that CLC604 significantly enhanced the antitumor efficacy of clinical drugs against HER2-overexpressing tumors and efficiently reduced HER2-induced drug resistance in vitro and in vivo. These findings suggest that CLC604 should be developed further as a novel antitumor drug candidate for the treatment of drug-resistant cancer.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.