Mutations in the KRAS proto-oncogene occur in ∼30% of human cancers and are particularly prevalent in adenocarcinomas of the pancreas, lung, and colon. Previous efforts to develop drugs that directly inhibit the activity of mutant KRAS have not met with success. We have recently shown that cancer cells driven by mutant KRAS require expression of the serine/threonine kinase STK33 for their viability and proliferation, supporting STK33 as a context-dependent therapeutic target. However, specific strategies for interfering with the critical functions of STK33, which remain to be elucidated, are not yet available. Using a mass spectrometry-based screen for STK33 protein interaction partners, we report that the HSP90/CDC37 chaperone complex and BAG2, a member of the BAG family of molecular chaperone regulators, bind to and stabilize STK33 in human cancer cells. Pharmacologic inhibition of HSP90, using structurally divergent small molecules currently in clinical development, induced proteasome-mediated degradation of STK33 in human cancer cells of various tissue origin in vitro and in vivo, and triggered apoptosis preferentially in KRAS mutant cells in an STK33-dependent manner. Furthermore, HSP90 inhibitor treatment impaired sphere formation and viability of primary human colon cancer-initiating cells harboring mutant KRAS. Similar to HSP90 inhibition, short hairpin RNA-mediated suppression of BAG2 depleted STK33, whereas BAG2 overexpression rescued STK33 protein levels in the presence of HSP90 inhibitors, resulting in diminished apoptosis in KRAS mutant cancer cells. These findings (1) provide mechanistic insight into the activity of HSP90 inhibitors in KRAS mutant cancer cells, (2) indicate that the enhanced requirement for STK33 can be exploited to target mutant KRAS-driven tumors, (3) identify STK33 depletion through HSP90 inhibition as a biomarker-guided therapeutic strategy with immediate translational potential, and (4) point to BAG2 as a candidate cancer drug target.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2773. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-2773