Enzymatic biosynthesis and biological evaluation of novel 17-AAG glucoside as potential anti-cancer agents

A novel 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) glucoside (1) was obtained from in vitro enzymatic glycosylation using a UDP-glycosyltransferase (YjiC). The water-solubility of compound 1 was approximately 10.5 times higher than that of the substrate, 17-AAG. Compound 1 showed potential anti-proliferative activities against five human cancer cell lines, with IC₅₀ values ranging from 5.26 to 28.52 μM. Further studies also indicated that compound 1 could inhibit the growth of CNE-2Z cells by inducing the degradation of Hsp90 client proteins (Akt, c-Raf, Bcl-2, and HIF-1α). In addition, compound 1 showed greater potential anti-tumor efficacy than 17-AAG in nude mice xenografted with CNE-2Z cells. Therefore, we suggest that in vitro enzymatic glycosylation is a powerful approach for the structural optimization of 17-AAG.