The mammalian heart is a dynamic organ that can grow and change to accommodate alterations in its workload. During development and in response to physiological stimuli or pathological insults, the heart undergoes hypertrophic enlargement, which is characterized by an increase in the size of individual cardiac myocytes. Recent findings in genetically modified animal models implicate important intermediate signal-transduction pathways in the coordination of heart growth following physiological and pathological stimulation.

Regulation of cardiac hypertrophy by intracellular signalling pathways

Molecular evolution of the histone deacetylase family: functional implications of phylogenetic analysis.

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(09)00841-1.pdf

Genome-wide Mapping of HATs and HDACs Reveals Distinct Functions in Active and Inactive Genes

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is a dynamic and reversible process that establishes normal cellular phenotypes but also contributes to human diseases. At the molecular level, epigenetic regulation involves hierarchical covalent modification of DNA and the proteins that package DNA, such as histones. Here, we review the key protein families that mediate epigenetic signalling through the acetylation and methylation of histones, including histone deacetylases, protein methyltransferases, lysine demethylases, bromodomain-containing proteins and proteins that bind to methylated histones. These protein families are emerging as druggable classes of enzymes and druggable classes of protein-protein interaction domains. In this article, we discuss the known links with disease, basic molecular mechanisms of action and recent progress in the pharmacological modulation of each class of proteins.

/pdf/epigenetic-protein-families-a-new-frontier-for-drug-22yn6u8o4o.pdf

Epigenetic protein families: a new frontier for drug discovery

The Rpd3/Hda1 family of protein lysine deacetylases has numerous substrates and diverse functions. Whereas class I enzymes are multiprotein histone deacetylase complexes that are crucial for chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation, some class II enzymes function as signal transducers that are regulated by nucleocytoplasmic translocation. Protein lysine deacetylases have a pivotal role in numerous biological processes and can be divided into the Rpd3/Hda1 and sirtuin families, each having members in diverse organisms including prokaryotes. In vertebrates, the Rpd3/Hda1 family contains 11 members, traditionally referred to as histone deacetylases (HDAC) 1–11, which are further grouped into classes I, II and IV. Whereas most class I HDACs are subunits of multiprotein nuclear complexes that are crucial for transcriptional repression and epigenetic landscaping, class II members regulate cytoplasmic processes or function as signal transducers that shuttle between the cytoplasm and the nucleus. Little is known about class IV HDAC11, although its evolutionary conservation implies a fundamental role in various organisms.

The Rpd3/Hda1 family of lysine deacetylases: from bacteria and yeast to mice and men.

Transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes occurs within a chromatin setting, and is strongly influenced by the post-translational modification of histones, the building blocks of chromatin, such as methylation, phosphorylation and acetylation. Acetylation is probably the best understood of these modifications: hyperacetylation leads to an increase in the expression of particular genes, and hypoacetylation has the opposite effect. Many studies have identified several large, multisubunit enzyme complexes that are responsible for the targeted deacetylation of histones. The aim of this review is to give a comprehensive overview of the structure, function and tissue distribution of members of the classical histone deacetylase (HDAC) family, in order to gain insight into the regulation of gene expression through HDAC activity. SAGE (serial analysis of gene expression) data show that HDACs are generally expressed in almost all tissues investigated. Surprisingly, no major differences were observed between the expression pattern in normal and malignant tissues. However, significant variation in HDAC expression was observed within tissue types. HDAC inhibitors have been shown to induce specific changes in gene expression and to influence a variety of other processes, including growth arrest, differentiation, cytotoxicity and induction of apoptosis. This challenging field has generated many fascinating results which will ultimately lead to a better understanding of the mechanism of gene transcription as a whole.

/pdf/histone-deacetylases-hdacs-characterization-of-the-classical-170nc52558.pdf

Histone deacetylases (HDACs): characterization of the classical HDAC family

Gene expression profiling in response to the histone deacetylase inhibitor BL1521 in neuroblastoma

The novel histone deacetylase inhibitor BL1521 inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.febslet.2005.01.058

Annemieke J.M. de Ruijter

Papers

Histone deacetylases (HDACs): characterization of the classical HDAC family

Gene expression profiling in response to the histone deacetylase inhibitor BL1521 in neuroblastoma

The novel histone deacetylase inhibitor BL1521 inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells

Histone deacetylase inhibitor BL1521 induces a G1-phase arrest in neuroblastoma cells through altered expression of cell cycle proteins

Antagonistic effects of sequential administration of BL1521, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, and gemcitabine to neuroblastoma cells