Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors(HDACis) are an Exciting New Class of Medicines for Lethal Diseases
Histone Octamer is not only a protein of the year,but a solution for the pain,suffering and death in our society caused by terminal diseases.
With advancing technology in the twenty-first
century, we are still struggling to find the right medication that can be used
as a target for lethal genetic and non-genetic diseases such as: cancer,
neurodegenerative disorders and cardiac disorders. Many of our friends, classmates, roommates
and family members have been diagnosed with one type or another of these lethal
diseases. It is estimated that one in
three people in the USA have a mutation.
Histone has been chosen as the
protein of the twenty-first century for the benefits that it offers to reverse
tumor cells. This paper shares some
important features that could be useful a tool in leading to eradicate this
lethal disease. The article showed that
histone deacetylase is an inhibitor of cancer suppressor genes (such as p21)
through hypoacetylation. According to this article, “over 490 clinical trials
have been initiated in the last 10 years” for histone deacetylase inhibitors
(HDACis) as a therapeutic alternative for cancer. After 10 years of clinical trials, the FDA
had approved 2 different HDACis : Suberoylamilide hydroxamic acid
(SAHA:Vorinostat) and FK228 (romidepsin) as drugs for the treatment of
cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). The
study evaluated the results in the treatment of CTCL, and the two HDACis
medications had a 50-56% success rate.
However, both of the HDACis drugs showed no effect in the treatment for
solid tumors. There were some challenges
that researchers have to work on, such as the side effects of the
SAHA-vorinostat and romidepsin.
The researchers in the 490 clinical
trials claimed that there are some approaches that can be applied in order to overcome
the side effects of the HDACis drugs.
They suggested the following:
a) Target preference: designing and
developing drugs with high quality and selectivity for a unique molecular entity.
b) Selective delivery: directing the
medicine to the organ tissue or location of interest. For instance, isoforms (isozymes) of HDAC:
HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3, HDAC4, HDAC5, HDAC6, HDAC7, HDAC8, HDAC9, HDAC10, and
HDAC11. These histone isozymes are in
diverse locations and with different functions.
Isoforms selectivity would be helpful in an understanding of their locations
and functions which could have tremendous clinical benefits. There are four classes of HDAC isoforms: I,
IIa, IIb, and IV. These classes
correspond with specific locations in the cell, but researchers still want to
know whether there are some specific isoforms that cause cardiac toxicity or
that could have therapeutic benefits for cancer? Scientists believe that in a
few years some HDACis drugs will get approval from the FDA.
Figure1:
Discribes the factors that are influencing epigenetic mechanism
Figure2:
Histone modification facilitated by enzymes acetyl transferase and histone
deacetylase.
Figure3:
Different classes of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis)
Each histone deacetylase inhibitor pharmacophore is color-coded to show
its binding within the histone deacetylase enzyme active site.