Inhibition of heat shock protein (HSP) 90 reverses signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3-mediated muscle wasting in cancer cachexia mice

Background and purpose: Cancer cachexia is a common cause of death among Cancer patients with no currently effective treatment available. In animal models, aberrant activation of STAT3 in skeletal muscle contributes to muscle wasting. However, clinically the factors regulating STAT3 activation and the molecular mechanisms involved remain incompletely understood.

Experimental approach: The expression of HSP90 and the activation of STAT3 were detected in muscle from the patients with Cancer cachexia or the tumour-bearing cachectic mice. HSP90 inhibitors, including 17DMAG (alvespimycin) and PU-H71, were administered to cachexic mice and cachexia parameters, weight loss, food intake, survival rate, body composition, serum metabolites, muscle wasting pathology and catabolic activation were analysed. The co-culture of C2C12 myotube cells with C26 conditioned media was performed to investigate the pathological mechanism involved in catabolic muscle wasting. The roles of HSP90, STAT3 and FOXO1 in myotube atrophy were explored via overexpression or knockdown.

Results: An enhanced interaction between activated STAT3 and HSP90 in the skeletal muscle of Cancer cachexia patients, is a crucial for the development of cachectic muscle wasting. HSP90 inhibitors 17DMAG and PU-H71 alleviated the muscle wasting in C26 and models or the myotube atrophy of C2C12 cells induced by C26 conditional medium. Prolonged STAT3 activation transactivated FOXO1 by binding directly to its promoter and triggered the muscle wasting in a FOXO1-dependent manner in muscle cells.

Conclusion and implications: The HSP90/STAT3/FOXO1 axis plays a critical role in cachectic muscle wasting, which might be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of Cancer cachexia.