title: Chemoprevention of rat hepatocarcinogenesis with histone deacetylase inhibitors: efficacy of tributyrin, a butyric acid prodrug.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) ranks in prevalence and mortality among top 10 cancers worldwide. Butyric acid (BA), a member of histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) has been proposed as an anticarcinogenic agent. However, its short half-life is a therapeutical limitation. This problem could be circumvented with tributyrin (TB), a proposed BA prodrug. To investigate TB effectiveness for chemoprevention, rats were treated with the compound during initial phases of "resistant hepatocyte" model of hepatocarcinogenesis, and cellular and molecular parameters were evaluated. TB inhibited (p < 0.05) development of hepatic preneoplastic lesions (PNL) including persistent ones considered HCC progression sites. TB increased (p < 0.05) PNL remodeling, a process whereby they tend to disappear. TB did not inhibit cell proliferation in PNL, but induced (p < 0.05) apoptosis in remodeling ones. Compared to controls, rats treated with TB presented increased (p < 0.05) hepatic levels of BA indicating its effectiveness as a prodrug. Molecular mechanisms of TB-induced hepatocarcinogenesis chemoprevention were investigated. TB increased (p < 0.05) hepatic nuclear histone H3K9 hyperacetylation specifically in PNL and p21 protein expression, which could be associated with inhibitory HDAC effects. Moreover, it reduced (p < 0.05) the frequency of persistent PNL with aberrant cytoplasmic p53 accumulation, an alteration associated with increased malignancy. Original data observed in our study support the effectiveness of TB as a prodrug of BA and as an HDACi in hepatocarcinogenesis chemoprevention. Besides histone acetylation and p21 restored expression, molecular mechanisms involved with TB anticarcinogenic actions could also be related to modulation of p53 pathways.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Diet, Nutrition and Cancer, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Joice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuroiwa-Trzmielina
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Conti
authors.forename: Clarissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scolastici
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Maria Aderuza
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Horst
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Purgatto
authors.forename: Thomas Prates
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Fernando Salvador
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Moreno
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 / Q000032:analysis; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D011355:Prodrugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; C493958:Cdkn1a protein, rat; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D006657:Histones; D011355:Prodrugs; D014280:Triglycerides; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; C005830:tributyrin