Cancers with wrong HATs: the impact of acetylation

Lysine N-epsilon-acetylation is a post-translational modification that regulates the function of histone and non-histone proteins. In several malignancies, histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activities are disturbed as a consequence of various genetic or epigenetic alterations. In particular, HATs can function as tumor suppressors, helping cells control cellular proliferation and cell cycle, and also as oncogenes, because abnormal acetylation can activate malignant proteins and contribute to cancer. An impaired acetylation profile can be indicative of a pathological process, and thus evaluation of histone acetylation could be used as a predictive index of patient survival or therapy outcome. Therefore, epigenetic therapy might be a very effective strategy to defeat cancer. With the use of histone deacetylase inhibitors and acetylation modulators (e.g. HAT inhibitors, bromodomain inhibitors), we are paving the way for a future epigenetic drug control of human diseases.