Gambogic acid targets Hsp90

Hsp90 is a heat shock protein that is 90 kDa (for non biologists:  average amino acid molecular weight is approximately 110 Da – Da: daltons).  Hsp90 is a chaperone protein that is involved in a complex of other proteins that function to help fold, activate, and stabilize many other proteins that are involved in signal transduction.  Robert Matts and co-workers from Oklahoma State University have reported in the Journal of Natural Products on the complex between gambogic acid to the N-terminal domain of Hsp90.

 

JNP paper