Chemosensitization of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells to cisplatin by histone deacetylase inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid.

In the present study, the precise mechanism of the enhancing action of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors on cisplatin (CDDP)-induced apoptosis was investigated using suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells (HSC-3). HDAC inhibitors are promising novel compounds for the treatment of cancer, which cooperate with chemotherapeutic agents to induce apoptosis. Apoptosis enhancement of HSC-3 cells by SAHA was accompanied by the activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9, suggesting a mitochondrial-dependent amplification loop.

Sequence-dependent interaction between cisplatin and histone deacetylase inhibitors in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Chemotherapeutic treatment with combinations of drugs is front-line therapy for many types of cancer. Combining drugs that target different signaling pathways often lessens adverse side-effects while increasing the efficacy of treatment and reducing patient morbidity. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors represent a novel class of anti-neoplastic agents that act by promoting acetylation of core histones, leading in turn to the uncoiling of chromatin and activation of a variety of genes implicated in the regulation of cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis.