Histone deacetylase inhibition modulates histone acetylation at gene promoter regions and affects genome-wide gene transcription in Schistosoma mansoni. | LitMetric
Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Published: April 2017
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Background: Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease infecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Treatment depends on a single drug, praziquantel, which kills the Schistosoma spp. parasite only at the adult stage. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) such as Trichostatin A (TSA) induce parasite mortality in vitro (schistosomula and adult worms), however the downstream effects of histone hyperacetylation on the parasite are not known.
Methodology/principal Findings: TSA treatment of adult worms in vitro increased histone acetylation at H3K9ac and H3K14ac, which are transcription activation marks, not affecting the unrelated transcription repression mark H3K27me3. We investigated the effect of TSA HDACi on schistosomula gene expression at three different time points, finding a marked genome-wide change in the transcriptome profile. Gene transcription activity was correlated with changes on the chromatin acetylation mark at gene promoter regions. Moreover, combining expression data with ChIP-Seq public data for schistosomula, we found that differentially expressed genes having the H3K4me3 mark at their promoter region in general showed transcription activation upon HDACi treatment, compared with those without the mark, which showed transcription down-regulation. Affected genes are enriched for DNA replication processes, most of them being up-regulated. Twenty out of 22 genes encoding proteins involved in reducing reactive oxygen species accumulation were down-regulated. Dozens of genes encoding proteins with histone reader motifs were changed, including SmEED from the PRC2 complex. We targeted SmEZH2 methyltransferase PRC2 component with a new EZH2 inhibitor (GSK343) and showed a synergistic effect with TSA, significantly increasing schistosomula mortality.
Conclusions/significance: Genome-wide gene expression analyses have identified important pathways and cellular functions that were affected and may explain the schistosomicidal effect of TSA HDACi. The change in expression of dozens of histone reader genes involved in regulation of the epigenetic program in S. mansoni can be used as a starting point to look for possible novel schistosomicidal targets.
Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.
Aim: The hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is primarily regulated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), impacting histone acetylation and methylation, which contribute to drug resistance. Vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), de-stabilizes HIF-1α, while PX-12, a thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) inhibitor, prevents HIF-1α accumulation. Combining HDACi with a Trx-1 inhibitor may enhance efficacy and reduce resistance by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer cells.
Background: The development and diversification of sensory proprioceptive neurons, which reside in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and express the tropomyosin receptor kinase C (TrkC), depend on the transcription factor (TF) Runx3. Runx3-deficient mice develop severe limb ataxia due to TrkC neuron cell death. Two additional TFs Pou4f1 (also called Brn3a) and Isl1 also play an important role in sensory neuron development.
Unlabelled: Dysregulated epigenetic programs that restrict differentiation, reactivate fetal genes, and confer phenotypic plasticity are critical to colorectal cancer (CRC) development. By screening a small molecule library targeting epigenetic regulators using our dual reporter system, we found that inhibiting histone deacetylase (HDAC) 1/2 promotes CRC differentiation and anti-tumor activity. Comprehensive biochemical, chemical, and genetic experiments revealed that on-target blockade of the HDAC1/2 catalytic domain mediated the differentiated phenotype.
Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are critical regulators of protein function and cellular signaling. While histone deacetylation by histone deacetylases (HDACs) is well established, the role of specific HDACs in modulating non-histone protein PTMs, particularly in an infectious context, is poorly understood. Here, we reveal a pivotal role for HDAC6 in orchestrating periodontal inflammation through its dual regulatory effects on FoxO1 acetylation and phosphorylation.
Unlabelled: The cat eye syndrome chromosome region candidate 2 (CECR2) protein is an epigenetic regulator involved in chromatin remodeling and transcriptional control. The CECR2 bromodomain (CECR2-BRD) plays a pivotal role in directing the activity of CECR2 through its capacity to recognize and bind acetylated lysine residues on histone proteins. This study elucidates the binding specificity and structural mechanisms of CECR2-BRD interactions with both histone and non-histone ligands, employing techniques such as isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and a high-throughput peptide assay.
