Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors and regulation of TRAIL-induced apoptosis

Evasion of apoptosis represents a key mechanism leading to treatment resistance of human cancers. Abnormal regulation of chromatin remodeling has been implied in tumorigenesis as well as treatment resistance. Acetylation of histones represents one of the key posttranslational modifications that contribute to the regulation of chromatin remodeling. Histone acetylation is governed by the balance between enzymes that put acetyl groups on histone tails or, alternatively, remove them. Since a disturbed regulation of histone acetylation plays an important role in cancer formation and progression, a variety of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have been developed in recent years to target aberrant HDAC activity. HDAC inhibitors also represent a promising strategy to lower the threshold of cancer cells for apoptosis induction. For example, synergistic induction of apoptosis has been documented for the concomitant use of HDAC inhibitors together with the death receptor ligand TRAIL in a panel of human cancers. Understanding the molecular mechanism that mediates this synergistic drug interaction will be critical to further optimize this approach in order to successfully translate it into a clinical setting.