Rescue of major histocompatibility-DR surface expression in retinoblastoma-defective, non-small cell lung carcinoma cells by the MS-275 histone deacetylase inhibitor.

Major histocompatibility (MHC) class II expression is ordinarily inducible by interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), but the induction is repressed in retinoblastoma protein (Rb)-defective cells. The repression can be rescued by histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor treatment, but this has never been shown for an HDAC inhibitor that is suitable for clinical trials and eventual patient therapy. Here we demonstrate that the HDAC inhibitor, MS-275, can rescue the IFN-gamma inducibility of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR in non-small cell lung cancer cells.