Novel Interaction of Class IIb Histone Deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) with Class IIa HDAC9 Controls Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) Neuronal Cell Survival and Movement

The impact of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in the control of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neuronal development is unknown. We identified an increase in many HDACs in GT1-7 (differentiated) compared with NLT (undifferentiated) GnRH neuronal cell lines. Increased HDAC9 mRNA and protein and specific deacetylase activity in GT1-7 cells suggested a functional role. Introduction of HDAC9 in NLT cells protected from serum withdrawal induced apoptosis and impaired basal neuronal cell movement. Conversely, silencing of endogenous HDAC9 in GT1-7 cells increased apoptosis and cell movement. Comparison of WT and mutant HDAC9 constructs demonstrated that the HDAC9 pro-survival effects required combined cytoplasmic and nuclear localization, whereas the effects on cell movement required a cytoplasmic site of action. Co-immunoprecipitation demonstrated a novel interaction of HDAC9 selectively with the Class IIb HDAC6. HDAC6 was also up-regulated at the mRNA and protein levels, and HDAC6 catalytic activity was significantly increased in GT1-7 compared with NLT cells. HDAC9 interacted with HDAC6 through its second catalytic domain. Silencing of HDAC6, HDAC9, or both, in GT1-7 cells augmented apoptosis compared with controls. HDAC6 and -9 had additive effects to promote cell survival via modulating the BAX/BCL2 pathway. Silencing of HDAC6 resulted in an activation of movement of GT1-7 cells with induction in acetylation of α-tubulin. Inhibition of HDAC6 and HDAC9 together resulted in an additive effect to increase cell movement but did not alter the acetylation of αtubulin. Together, these studies identify a novel interaction of Class IIa HDAC9 with Class IIb HDAC6 to modulate cell movement and survival in GnRH neurons.     

Design,synthesis and evaluation of antiproliferative activity of melanoma-targeted histone deacetylase inhibitors

The clinical validation of histone deacetylase inhibition as a cancer therapeutic modality has stimulated interest in the development of new generation of potent and tumor selective histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi). With the goal of selective delivery of the HDACi to melanoma cells, we incorporated the benzamide, a high affinity melanin-binding template, into the design of HDACi to generate a new series of compounds 10a-b and 11a-b which display high potency towards HDAC1 and HDAC6. However, these compounds have attenuated antiproliferative activities relative to the untargeted HDACi. An alternative strategy furnished compound 14, a prodrug bearing the benzamide template linked via a labile bond to a hydroxamate-based HDACi. This pro-drug compound showed promising antiproliferative activity and warrant further study.     

Histone Deacetylase 10 Regulates DNA Mismatch Repair and May Involve the Deacetylation of MutS Homolog 2

MutS homolog 2 (MSH2) is an essential DNA mismatch repair (MMR) protein. It interacts with MSH6 or MSH3 to form the MutSα or MutSβ complex, respectively, which recognize base-base mispairs and insertions/deletions and initiate the repair process. Mutation or dysregulation of MSH2 causes genomic instability that can lead to cancer. MSH2 is acetylated at its C terminus, and histone deacetylase (HDAC6) deacetylates MSH2. However, whether other regions of MSH2 can be acetylated and whether other histone deacetylases (HDACs) and histone acetyltransferases (HATs) are involved in MSH2 deacetylation/acetylation is unknown. Here, we report that MSH2 can be acetylated at Lys-73 near the N terminus. Lys-73 is highly conserved across many species. Although several Class I and II HDACs interact with MSH2, HDAC10 is the major enzyme that deacetylates MSH2 at Lys-73. Histone acetyltransferase HBO1 might acetylate this residue. HDAC10 overexpression in HeLa cells stimulates cellular DNA MMR activity, whereas HDAC10 knockdown decreases DNA MMR activity. Thus, our study identifies an HDAC10-mediated regulatory mechanism controlling the DNA mismatch repair function of MSH2.     

Histone deacetylase activity is retained in primary neurons expressing mutant huntingtin protein

Perturbation of histone acetyl-transferase (HAT) activity is implicated in the pathology of polyglutamine diseases, and suppression of the counteracting histone deacetylase (HDAC) proteins has been proposed as a therapeutic candidate for these intractable disorders. Meanwhile, it is not known whether mutant polyglutamine disease protein affects the HDAC activity in declining neurons, though the answer is essential for application of anti-HDAC drugs for polyglutamine diseases. Here, we show the effect of mutant huntingtin (htt) protein on the expression and activity of HDAC proteins in rat primary cortical neurons as well as in human Huntington's disease (HD) brains. Our findings indicate that expression and activity of HDAC proteins are not repressed by mutant htt protein. Furthermore, expression of normal and mutant htt protein slightly increased HDAC activity although the effects of normal and mutant htt were not remarkably different. In human HD cerebral cortex, HDAC5 immunoreactivity was increased in the nucleus of striatal and cortical neurons, suggesting accelerated nuclear import of this class II HDAC. Meanwhile, western blot and immunohistochemical analyses showed no remarkable change in the expression of class I HDAC proteins such as HDAC1 and HDCA8. Collectively, retained activity in affected neurons supports application of anti-HDAC drugs to the therapy of HD.     

Nuclear Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase II Signaling Enhances Cardiac Progenitor Cell Survival and Cardiac Lineage Commitment

Ca²⁺/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) signaling in the heart regulates cardiomyocyte contractility and growth in response to elevated intracellular Ca²⁺. The δB isoform of CaMKII is the predominant nuclear splice variant in the adult heart and regulates cardiomyocyte hypertrophic gene expression by signaling to the histone deacetylase HDAC4. However, the role of CaMKIIδ in cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) has not been previously explored. During post-natal growth endogenous CPCs display primarily cytosolic CaMKIIδ, which localizes to the nuclear compartment of CPCs after myocardial infarction injury. CPCs undergoing early differentiation in vitro increase levels of CaMKIIδB in the nuclear compartment where the kinase may contribute to the regulation of CPC commitment. CPCs modified with lentiviral-based constructs to overexpress CaMKIIδB (CPCeδB) have reduced proliferative rate compared with CPCs expressing eGFP alone (CPCe). Additionally, stable expression of CaMKIIδB promotes distinct morphological changes such as increased cell surface area and length of cells compared with CPCe. CPCeδB are resistant to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) relative to CPCe, whereas knockdown of CaMKIIδB resulted in an up-regulation of cell death and cellular senescence markers compared with scrambled treated controls. Dexamethasone (Dex) treatment increased mRNA and protein expression of cardiomyogenic markers cardiac troponin T and α-smooth muscle actin in CPCeδB compared with CPCe, suggesting increased differentiation. Therefore, CaMKIIδB may serve as a novel modulatory protein to enhance CPC survival and commitment into the cardiac and smooth muscle lineages.     

Homodimeric PHD Domain-containing Rco1 Subunit Constitutes a Critical Interaction Hub within the Rpd3S Histone Deacetylase Complex

Recognition of histone post-translational modifications is pivotal for directing chromatin-modifying enzymes to specific genomic regions and regulating their activities. Emerging evidence suggests that other structural features of nucleosomes also contribute to precise targeting of downstream chromatin complexes, such as linker DNA, the histone globular domain, and nucleosome spacing. However, how chromatin complexes coordinate individual interactions to achieve high affinity and specificity remains unclear. The Rpd3S histone deacetylase utilizes the chromodomain-containing Eaf3 subunit and the PHD domain-containing Rco1 subunit to recognize nucleosomes that are methylated at lysine 36 of histone H3 (H3K36me). We showed previously that the binding of Eaf3 to H3K36me can be allosterically activated by Rco1. To investigate how this chromatin recognition module is regulated in the context of the Rpd3S complex, we first determined the subunit interaction network of Rpd3S. Interestingly, we found that Rpd3S contains two copies of the essential subunit Rco1, and both copies of Rco1 are required for full functionality of Rpd3S. Our functional dissection of Rco1 revealed that besides its known chromatin-recognition interfaces, other regions of Rco1 are also critical for Rpd3S to recognize its nucleosomal substrates and functionin vivo. This unexpected result uncovered an important and understudied aspect of chromatin recognition. It suggests that precisely reading modified chromatin may not only need the combined actions of reader domains but also require an internal signaling circuit that coordinates the individual actions in a productive way.     

组蛋白去乙酰化酶4与人类疾病

组蛋白去乙酰化酶4（histone deacetylase 4,HDAC4）是一类依赖锌的去乙酰化酶,属于Ⅱ类组蛋白去乙酰化酶（histone deacetylases,HDACs）,主要具有去乙酰化酶的活性。HDAC4由去乙酰化酶结构域发挥去乙酰化酶的作用,还具有核定位序列和核输出序列,通过转录后与翻译后水平的修饰可在细胞核和细胞质之间穿梭,进而参与多种调节过程。近年来的研究发现,HDAC4可参与基因的转录调控、细胞凋亡、代谢等诸多生物进程,在多种疾病的发生发展中发挥重要作用。本文主要从HDAC4的结构、去乙酰作用、自身的修饰及其在核浆中的穿梭作用对其进行概述,同时对其在骨关节炎、心血管疾病、肌萎缩性侧索硬化症等不同疾病中的作用、相关的分子机制及组蛋白抑制剂在肿瘤中的应用等方面的研究进展进行综述。     

组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的机制

组蛋白去乙酰化酶抑制剂（HDACi）是一类新的化疗药物,能够有效抑制组蛋白去乙酰化酶的活性,促进组蛋白及非组蛋白的乙酰化修饰,在转录和翻译后修饰水平调控肿瘤靶蛋白及凋亡相关蛋白的表达和降解,活化凋亡信号通路,诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡。HDACi抑制抗氧化蛋白的表达,提高细胞内活性氧的水平,引起细胞的氧化损伤。因此,氧化损伤诱导的细胞凋亡也是HDACi杀伤肿瘤细胞的重要机制。HDACi诱导细胞凋亡机制的发现将进一步促进HDACi在临床治疗中的应用。     

The histone deacetylase-6 inhibitor tubacin directly inhibits de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis as an off-target effect

Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) controls acetylation of a number of cytosolic proteins, most prominently tubulin. Tubacin is a small molecule inhibitor of HDAC6 selected for its selective inhibition of HDAC6 relative to other histone deacetylases. For this reason it has become a useful pharmacological tool to discern the biological functions of HDAC6 in numerous cellular processes. The interest of this laboratory is in the function and regulation of sphingolipids, a family of lipids based on the sphingosine backbone. Sphingolipid biosynthesis is initiated by the rate limiting enzyme serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT). Sphingolipids have critical and diverse functions in cell survival, apoptosis, intra- and intercellular signaling, and in membrane structure. In the course of examining the role of HDAC6 in the regulation of sphingolipid biosynthesis we observed that tubacin strongly inhibited de novo synthesis whereas HDAC6 knockdown very moderately stimulated synthesis. We resolved these seemingly contradictory results by demonstrating that, surprisingly, tubacin is a direct inhibitor of SPT activity in permeabilized cells. Furthermore tubacin inhibits de novo sphingolipid synthesis in intact cells at doses commonly used to test HDAC6 function and does so in an HDAC6-independent manner. Niltubacin is a chemical analog of tubacin which lacks tubacin’s HDAC6 activity, and so is often used as a control for off-target effects of tubacin. We find that niltubacin is inactive in the inhibition of sphingolipid biosynthesis, and so does not serve to distinguish the inhibitory effects of tubacin on HDAC6 from those on sphingolipid biosynthesis. These results indicate that caution should be used in the use of tubacin to study the role of HDAC6.     

组蛋白脱乙酰化酶—1保守氨基酸中组氨酸定点突变的建立

为了研究蛋白脱乙酰化酶－１（ＨＤＡＣ１）保守氨基酸中组氨酸的定点突变对其功能的影响,需要建立ＨＤＡＣ１保守组氨酸定点突变的突变子。在克隆野生型ＨＤＡＣ１ｃＤＮＡ的基础上,利用Ａｌ－ｔｅｒｅｄ ＳｉｔｅⅡ体外突变系统对ＨＤＡＣ１保守氨基酸中的３个组氨酸位点进行突变,并用全自动测序鉴定。结果分别获得了ＨＤＡＣ１的Ｈ１４０Ｆ、Ｈ１７８Ｆ、Ｈ１７９Ｆ的定点突变子,为进一步研究ＨＤＡＣ１保守氨基酸定点突变对     

Variations in DNA Methylation Patterns During the Cell Cycle of HeLa Cells

DNA methylation has been viewed as a stable component of the epigenome, which is established during development and fixed thereafter. We show here using nearest neighbor analysis, immunocytochemistry, and high performance capillary electrophoresis that the DNA methylation pattern varies in HeLa cells during a single cell cycle. Immunocytochemical analysis in primary human fibroblasts shows similar variations. The global levels of DNA methylation decreased in G1 and increase during the S phase of the cell cycle. Since there was little change in the DNA methylation levels in repetitive sequences throughout the cell cycle, we examined the DNA methylation pattern of unique sequences using a human CpG island microarray. Hybridization with methylated DNA from G1 and S phase of the cell cycle revealed that 174 CG-containing sequences were differentially methylated between G1 and S. 75% of all the variations in DNA methylation detected in unique sequences represented hypomethylation at G0, with changes occurring in both CpG islands and non-CpG islands. Bisulfite mapping confirmed these changes in methylation in the regions identified by the microarray. This is the first demonstration of a dynamic DNA methylation pattern within a single cell cycle of a mature somatic cell. These data are important for our understanding of the stability of DNA methylation patterns in somatic cells.