Drug discovery from chemical genetics on histone deacetylase

Abstract

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) is a family of enzymes that was discovered as a regulator of chromatin structure and function by means of chemical genetics. It is increasingly drawing attention as a molecular target for cancer therapy, since HDAC has been linked to tumorigenesis and tumor angiogenesis, and its inhibitors induce cell cycle arrest, differentiation and apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells.
This review focuses on the recent advance of chemistry and biology of HDAC inhibitors.