Heat shock proteins (Hsp) are important for the stability and function of cell proteins and thus for cell survival under physiological as well as stress conditions. Hsps were also reported to play an important role in tumorogenesis including leukemias. In this study we followed up Hsp70 and 90 protein levels in samples from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) to evaluate these Hsps with regard to their ability to characterize the disease status and disease prognosis. We analyzed 68 samples of total leukocytes of CML patients with different response to therapy with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. The results of Western blot analyses showed that the level of Hsp70 did not change in the course of the disease and did not correlate with response to therapy. In contrast, Hsp90 levels showed good correlation with the disease state. Patients with good response to therapy (major molecular response-MMR, molecular remission-CMR) had low expression levels of Hsp90, similar to those in healthy individuals. High Hsp90 levels were found in patients with resistance to therapy (hematological relapse-HR, accelerated phase or blast crisis), and in leukemic cell line K562. The results of the study suggested that not the kinetics but the particular level of Hsp90 at any time point since therapy start is of prognostic value: Hsp90 level above 0.27 significantly predicted poor response to TKI therapy (relapse, progression) and the level below 0.085 good response (MMR, CMR). In conclusion, Hsp90 level in total leukocytes could serve as a risk factor at diagnosis as well as during therapy and might help in clinical decision making especially in cases where BCR-ABL monitoring is of low predictive value. Our data suggest that high expression of HSP90 contributes to the aggressivity of the disease and should be considered as an important target for specialized CML therapy.
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