Question

Some cancers have been treated with drugs that inhibit Histone deacetylases (HDACs). A. Explain how these...

Some cancers have been treated with drugs that inhibit Histone deacetylases (HDACs).

A. Explain how these drugs might work.

B. Do you think the cancer-causing genes that respond to the HDAC inhibitors are likely to be proto-oncogenes or tumor-suppressor genes? Explain your reasoning.

Homework Answers

Answer #1

Histone modifications are epigenetic changes that alter gene expression by affecting the access of RNA polymerase to the target locus.
Histone acetylation is an activation mark. It is mediated by HATs (Histone acetyl transferase).
HDAC = Histone deacetylase
HDACs remove acetylation and repress gene expression.

Cancer is characterized by unregulated cell proliferation.
Protooncogenes promote cell division.
Tumor suppressor genes inhibit cell division.

So, if we use drugs that target HDACs, we can promote the expression of some of the tumor suppressor genes that are repressed in the cancer cells.

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