HDAC inhibitors and ionizing radiation: combinatorial strategy to combat lung cancer.

摘要

Histone acetylation is a major mechanism of epigenetic regulation of gene transcription. While histone acetyltransferases (HATs) act as transcriptional co-activators by favoring an open conformation of the chromatin, histone deacetylases (HDACs) favor chromatin condensation and thus function as transcriptional repressors.Repression of the transcription of tumor suppressor genes by HDACs is known to play a significant role in the process of carcinogenesis and HDACs are overexpressed in diverse cancers.