Chaperones are proteins which assist other proteins attain their proper 3-dimensional folding. Proper folding is essential for the biological function of all proteins.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are among the most important of the chaperones. HSP90, one of the most common of the heat-related proteins, is essential for eukaryote viability. In certain tumor situations, HSP90 can act as a stabilizer of mutated proteins, and can prevent recognition of apoptosis signals.

Geldanamycin is a natural HSP90 inhibitor. It cannot be used as a drug, however, because of its insufficient solubility and because of its hepatotoxicity.

Several derivatives of Geldanamycin are produced by Fermentek. Of these, 17AAG successfully passed clinical trials. In addition to Geldanamycin and 17AAG, we currently have in stock 17DMAG and Radicicol.