Comprehension of the Relationship between Autophagy and Reactive Oxygen Species for Superior Cancer Therapy with Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors

Abstract

Epigenetics contains various mechanisms by which cells employ to regulate the transcription of many DNAs. Histone acetylation is an obvious example of the epigenetic mechanism regulating the expression of several genes by changing chromatin accessibility. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a class of enzymes that play a critical role in the epigenetic regulation by deacetylation of histone proteins. Inhibitors of the histone deacetylase could result in hyperacetylation of histones, which eventually induce various cellular consequences such as generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), activation of apoptotic pathways, and initiating autophagy. In particular, excessive levels of ROS have been proposed to contribute to the pathophysiology of various diseases including cancer. Cancers are, as it were, a class of redox diseases. Low levels of ROS are beneficial for cells, however, cancer cells generally have high levels of ROS, which makes them more susceptible than normal cells to the further increases of ROS levels. Cancer cells exhibit metabolic alterations for managing to sustain these oxidative stresses. There is a growing interest in the use of HDAC inhibitors as promising cancer therapeutics with potentiating the activity of established therapeutic applications. Therefore, it should be important to understand the underlying relationship between the regulation of HDACs, ROS production, and cancer cell biology.