The role of histone deacetylase 7 (HDAC7) in cancer cell proliferation: regulation on c-Myc

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play fundamental roles in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression and contribute to the growth, differentiation, and apoptosis of cancer cells. Although HDACs are recognized to be closely related to cancer development and altered expression of certain HDACs is observed in tumor samples, the arcane characters of HDACs in tumorigenesis have not been fully illustrated. Herein, we report that HDAC7 is a crucial player in cancer cell proliferation. Knockdown of HDAC7 resulted in significant G(1)/S arrest in different cancer cell lines. Subsequent investigations indicated that HDAC7 silencing blocked cell cycle progression through suppressing c-Myc expression and increasing p21 and p27 protein levels. The ectopic expression of c-Myc in turn antagonized the cell cycle arrest and repressed the elevation of p21 and p27 in HDAC7 silencing setting. Of note, HDAC7 deficiency was further identified to induce cellular senescence program, which was also reversed by c-Myc re-expression. Further chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated that HDAC7 directly binds with c-Myc gene and HDAC7 silencing decreased c-Myc mRNA level via reducing histone H3/H4 acetylation and repressing the association of RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) with c-Myc gene. Taken together, our findings highlight for the first time an unrecognized link between HDAC7 and c-Myc and offer a novel mechanistic insight into the contribution of HDAC7 to tumor progression.