Epigenetics - LSUHSC Human Development Center

HDAC inhibitors (HDI)• Trichostatin A (TSA) and valproic acid are of the twomain groups of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDI)which alter gene expression by interfering with histonedeacetylases (HDAC).• The classical HDIs act by binding to the zinc containingcatalytic domain of the HDACs.• HDIs have a long history of use in psychiatry andneurology as mood stabilizers and anti-epileptics• Also in recent years, there has been an effort to developHDIs as a cancer treatment (SAHA and TSA).****Therefore:• Histone acetylation actives gene• Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inactivates the gene• Histone deacetylase inhibitor (HAD such as TSA)reactivates the gene