HAT inhibition

The HDACi s mentioned above inhibit exclusively Zn2+-dependent HDACs and not the NAD-dependent Sittuins. Researcher also focuses on development of sirtunin inhibitors and first successes like the compound siitinol have been repotted. Finally, the development of HAT inhibitors is also pursued and to date some compounds like the peptide-based inhibitor H3-CoA-20 or the small molecule MB-3 are among the first molecules to show HAT inhibition [3]. 

Histone Acetylation. Figure 1 Histone acetylation is a posttranslational modification of lysine residues of histones. This modification is catalyzed by histone actyl transferases (HATs), which transfer an acetyl group (yellow) from acetyl-Coenzyme A onto the E-amino group of the lysine residue. Histone deacetylation is catalyzed by histone deacetylases (HDACs), which hydrolyze the lysine bound acetyl group. HDAC inhibitors like Trichostatin A (TSA) are known to inhibit the deacetylation reaction in vivo and in vitro. 

T. brucei is unable to synthesize purines de novo and, as such, is dependent upon salvage mechanisms from the host. A number of transporters and enzymes are used by T. brucei to accomplish this task, and inhibition of these targets offers promise for development of trypanocides [39]. This strategy has been validated by demonstration that cordycepin (34), a substrate for T. brucei adenosine kinase (TbAK), which terminates RNA synthesis and parasite growth, can cure stage 2 HAT infections in mice when coadministered with deoxycoformycin (35), an adenosine deaminase inhibitor [40]. 

Several small molecule modulators (SMM) of p300 and PCAF have been developed (Varier et al, 2004). Recently, the first naturally occurring HAT inhibitor anacardic acid was isolated from cashew nut shell liquid, which inhibits the HAT activity of both p300 and PCAF very effectively (Balasubramanyam et al, 2003). By using anacardic acid as a synthon, an amide derivative of anacardic acid, CTPB, has been synthesized, which is the only known small molecule activator of any histone acetyltransferase, in this case, p300. However, cells are impermeable or... 

Figure 4. Therapeutic strategies to counteract CBP loss of function. CBP loss of function leads to a decrease in histone acetylation levels as well as a decrease in CBP-dependent transcription. Two main approaches can be tested to reverse diis process either resetting HAT functionality or resetting global acetylation levels widi die use of HDAC inhibitors. Whereas both strategies would increase histone acetylation levels, HDAC inhibition would act on a broad range of genes, while CBP activation (overexpression or by a pharmacological approach) would specifically target bodi CBP-dependent histone acetylation and transcription. The structure of some of the HDACi that have been tested in different models, such as small fatty acids and hydroxamic acids, are represented in the boxes...

HIV-1 promoter and physically interacts with HAT complexes (Lee et at., 2002). Overexpression of a C/EBP dominant-negative inhibits disruption of the nucleosome nuc-1 (Lee et al, 2002). 

Kubicek S, Jenuwein T (2004) A crack in histone lysine methylation. Cell 119 903-906 Kwon HJ, Kim JH, Kim M, Lee JK, Hwang WS, Kim DY (2003) Anti-parasitic activity of depudecin on Neospora caninum via the inhibition of histone deacetylases. Vet Parasitol 112 269-276 Lau OD, Kundu TK, Soccio RE, Ait-Si-Sli S, Khail EM, Vassilev A, Wolffe AP, Nakatani Y, Roeder RG, Cole PA (2000) HATs off Selective synthetic inhibitors of the histone acetyltransferases p300 and PCAF. Mol Cell 5 589-595... 

Successful fusion (2) is a rare event, but the frequency can be improved by adding polyethylene glycol (PEG). To obtain only successfully fused cells, incubation is required for an extended period in a primary culture with HAT medium (3), which contains hypoxan-thine, aminopterin, and thymidine. Amino-pterin, an analogue of dihydrofolic acid, competitively inhibits dihydrofolate reductase and thus inhibits the synthesis of dTMP (see p. 402). As dTMP is essential for DNA synthesis, myeloma cells cannot survive in the presence of aminopterin. Although spleen cells are able to circumvent the inhibitory effect of aminopterin by using hypoxanthine and thymidine, they have a limited lifespan and die. Only hybridomas survive culture in HAT medium, because they possess both the immortality of the myeloma cells and the spleen cells metabolic side pathway. 

The first reported selective inhibitors of the HATs p300 and PCAF were peptides representing structurally simple bi-substrate analogs of H3 and acetyl-CoA [10, 11]. Hence, p300 was inhibited by Lys-CoA 1 and the more specific PCAF by the 20-amino-acid peptide H3-CoA-20 2 (Figure 11.2). Unfortunately, these inhibitors showed low cell permeability and high metabolic instability, which decreases their suitability for investigations in vivo [12]. 

Mantelingu, K, Reddy, B.A.A., Swaminathan, V., Kishore, A.H., Siddappa, N.B., Kumar, G.V. et al. (2007) Specific inhibition of p300-HAT alters global gene expression and represses HIV replication. Chemistry ei Biology,... 

The family of HDAC enzymes has been named after their first substrate identified, i.e., the nuclear histone proteins. Histone proteins (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) form an octamer complex, around which the DNA helix is wrapped in order to establish a condensed chromatin structure. The acetylation status of histones is in a dynamic equilibrium governed by histone acetyl transferases (HATs), which acetylate and HDACs which are responsible for the deacetylation of histone tails (Fig. 1). Inhibition of the HDAC enzyme promotes the acetylation of nucleosome histone tails, favoring a more transcriptionally competent chromatin structure, which in turn leads to altered expression of genes involved in cellular processes such as cell prohferation, apoptosis and differentiation. Inhibition of HDAC activity results in the activation of only a limited set of pre-programmed genes microarray experiments have shown that 2% of all genes are activated by structmally different HDAC inhibitors [1-5]. In recent years, a growing number of additional nonhistone HDAC substrates have been identified, which will be discussed in more detail below. 

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