Carbenoxolone (CBX) is a semisynthetic derivative of the licorice root substance glycyrrhizinic acid and has been previously reported to induce only heat shock protein 70 [Hsp70, HSPA1A (the systematic name of heat shock protein is given in the parenthesis after each HSP, according to the recent nomenclature guidelines, Kampinga et al., Cell Stress Chaperones, 14:105-111, 2008) but not other heat shock proteins (HSPs) (Nagayama et al., Life Sci. 69:2867-2873. In this study, we reinvestigated the effect of CBX on the induction of HSPs in HeLa and human neuroblastoma (A-172) cells. CBX clearly induced not only Hsp70 but also Hsp90 (HSPC1), Hsp40 (DNAJB1), and Hsp27 (HSPB1) at concentrations of 10 to 800 μM for 16 h incubation. At higher concentrations (more than 400 μM), however, CBX appeared to be toxic. Treatment of cells with CBX resulted in enhanced phosphorylation and acquisition of DNA-binding ability of heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1). Furthermore, characteristic HSF1 granules were formed in the nucleus, suggesting that the induction of HSPs by CBX is mediated by the activation of HSF1. Furthermore, thermotolerance was induced by CBX treatment, as determined by clonogenic survival. Although the precise target of CBX is not known at present, these results indicate that CBX is one of the molecular chaperone inducers and suggest that some pharmacological activities of CBX might be ascribable in part to its molecular chaperone-inducing property.

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