Gotfryd K, Skladchikova G, Lepekhin EA, Berezin V, Bock E, Walmod PS. Cell type-specific anti-cancer properties of valproic acid: independent effects on HDAC activity and Erk1/2 phosphorylation.
BMC Cancer 2010;
10:383. [PMID:
20663132 PMCID:
PMC2918577 DOI:
10.1186/1471-2407-10-383]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2010] [Accepted: 07/21/2010] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
The anti-epileptic drug valproic acid (VPA) has attracted attention as an anti-cancer agent.
Methods
The present study investigated effects of VPA exposure on histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition, cell growth, cell speed, and the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation in 10 cell lines (BT4C, BT4Cn, U87MG, N2a, PC12-E2, CSML0, CSML100, HeLa, L929, Swiss 3T3).
Results
VPA induced significant histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition in most of the cell lines, but the degree of inhibition was highly cell type-specific. Moreover, cell growth, motility and the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation were inhibited, activated, or unaffected by VPA in a cell type-specific manner. Importantly, no relationship was found between the effects of VPA on HDAC inhibition and changes in the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation, cell growth, or motility. In contrast, VPA-induced modulation of the MAPK pathway downstream of Ras but upstream of MEK (i.e., at the level of Raf) was important for changes in cell speed.
Conclusions
These results suggest that VPA can modulate the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation in a manner unrelated to HDAC inhibition and emphasize that changes in the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation are also important for the anti-cancer properties of VPA.
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