Histone deacetylases inhibition: a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for cancers

It is a currently well-accepted view that epigenetic alterations in cancers, such as DNA methylation, microRNAs and histone modifications, mainly represent two opposing roles, either behaving as oncogenes or tumor suppressors depending on the specific targets and local microenvironment [1]. Histone hypoacetylation induced by the activity of histone deacetylases (HDACs) is an epigenetic mechanism associated with gene silencing and plays a critical role in carcinogenesis [2]. Though the aberrant recruitment of HDACs to their target gene promoter regions could be a common phenomenon in tumor onset, the expression signatures and functional profiles of different HDACs in a variety of human cancers are still largely elusive.

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