Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a dismal disease with a median survival below 6 months and a 5-year survival rate below 1%. Effective therapies for locally advanced or metastatic tumours are missing and curatively resected patients relapse in over 80% of the cases. Although histone deacetylases (HDACs) are involved in the control of proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, migratio...

Cushing's syndrome (CS) is a collection of symptoms caused by prolonged exposure to excess cortisol. Chronically elevated glucocorticoid (GC) levels contribute to hepatic steatosis. We hypothesized that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) could attenuate hepatic steatosis through glucocorticoid receptor (GR) acetylation in experimental CS. To induce CS, we administered adrenocorticotropic ho...

Capecitabine, commonly used in different settings for metastatic breast cancer, is an inactive prodrug that take advantage of the tumor elevated levels of thymidine phosphorylase (TP), a key enzyme for its conversion to 5-florouracil. Potentiation of anticancer activity of capecitabine is required to improve its therapeutic index. We demonstrated that histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), inc...

PURPOSE Cancer stem cells (CSC) are the tumorigenic cell population that has been shown to sustain tumor growth and to resist conventional therapies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) as anti-CSC therapies. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We evaluated the effect of the HDACi compound abexinostat on CSCs from 16 breast cancer cell lines (BCL)...

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) have been shown to render HPV-carrying cells susceptible to intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic signals. As such, these epigenetic drugs have entered clinical trials in the effort to treat cervical cancer. Here, we studied the effect of common HDACi, with an emphasis on Trichostatin A (TSA), on the transcriptional activity of the HPV-16 Long Control Region (...

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition is a clinically validated cancer treatment strategy which targets the components of the cellular epigenetic machinery. Despite promises in preclinical studies, HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) have been less efficacious in treating solid tumors. To address this problem, we envisioned the design of HDACi equipped with secondary pharmacophores to facilitate selective ...

DNA methylation is commonly thought of as a "molecular lock" that leads to permanent gene silencing. To investigate this notion, we tested 24 different histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) on colon cancer cells that harbor a GFP locus stably integrated and silenced by a hypermethylated cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. We found that HDACi efficiently reactivated expression of GFP and many other...

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) demonstrate considerable in vitro and in vivo activity and clinical efficacy in the treatment of hematological malignancies. Pre-clinical and early phase clinical trials identify therapeutic activity using a combination of HDACi and demethylating agents which may be more efficacious than single agent treatment. Our studies aimed to determine the effects an...

Synovial sarcoma and high grade chondrosarcoma are characterized by their lack of response to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, the tendency to develop lung metastases, and low survival rates. Research within the field prioritizes the development and expansion of new treatment options for dealing with unresectable or metastatic diseases. Numerous clinical trials using histone deacetylases in...

DNA methylation is commonly thought of as a "molecular lock" that leads to permanent gene silencing. To investigate this notion, we tested 24 different histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) on colon cancer cells that harbor a GFP locus stably integrated and silenced by a hypermethylated cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. We found that HDACi efficiently reactivated expression of GFP and many other...