Effect of thiazinotrienomycin B, an ansamycin antibiotic, on the function of epidermal growth factor receptor in human stomach tumor cells

Thiazinotrienomycin B (TT-B), an ansamycin isolated from fermentation broths of Streptomyces sp. MJ672-m3, inhibited the growth in vitro of human stomach tumor SC-6 cells over 10 times more strongly than the growth of other human tumor cells, such as HeLa (cervix), T24 (bladder) and LX-1 (lung). The extent of growth inhibition by TT-B of SC-6, but not of LX-1 nor T24, was lowered in a competitive manner by raising serum concentrations in the culture medium. TT-B inhibited the cell cycle progression of SC-6 at an early stage of the progression from G0/G1 to S. The inhibition was again competitive with serum concentrations in the culture medium. No direct inhibition of DNA synthesis was observed at the concentration range which caused the cell cycle arrest. TT-B and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) were antagonistic to each other in inhibiting the cell cycle progression of SC-6 from G0/G1 to S, suggesting that the two compounds share the same target, EGFR. The kinase activity of EGFR was little inhibited by TT-B in a cell-free system.