Radio- and chemo-sensitization of human erythroleukemic K562 cells by the histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A.

Histone deacetylase inhibitors are emerging therapeutic agents for cancer. In addition to effecting hyperacetylation of core histones, they have been shown to induce biologic effects such as cell cycle redistribution, cytostasis and in certain cases apoptosis in a variety of cell lines. In this study, the purpose was to investigate the effects of Trichostatin A (TSA) - the most potent histone deacetylase inhibitor identified to date - in human erythroleukemic K562 cells. Further aims were to examine the effect of TSA pre-treatment on the chemosensitivity of the cells to the anthracycline, doxorubicin, and on radiosensitivity. In all experiments the cells were treated with 0.2, 0.5 and 2 mM TSA for 24 h prior to analysis for histone acetylation status, cell growth and survival. In parallel assays, TSA treated cells were exposed to doxorubicin or g-radiation and subsequently analyzed for clonogenic survival. The findings indicated that TSA exhibits potent histone deacetylase inhibitor activity in K562 cells, resulting in hyperacetylation of histones 3 and 4 at the concentrations tested. Furthermore, treatment of cells with TSA resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of proliferation, reduction in clonogenic survival and induction of apoptosis. Moreover, the findings of clonogenic survival assays indicated that pre-treatment of K562 cells with TSA augmented the cytotoxic potency of doxorubicin. The magnitude of sensitization to 10 mM doxorubicin-mediated cell death was approximately 2-fold in cells that were treated with 0.2 mM TSA and 5-fold in cells exposed to 0.5 and 2 mM TSA, compared to cells that had not been pre-treated with the histone deacetylase inhibitor. Similarly, exposure of K562 cells to TSA prior to irradiation resulted in dose-dependent radiosensitization. The dose modification factors at D(37) were calculated to be 1.3, 1.6 and 2.5 for cells treated with 0.2, 0.5 and 2 mM TSA, respectively. These findings provide additional evidence that histone deacetylase inhibitors can increase the cytotoxic efficiency of chemotherapeutic drugs, particularly those which target DNA, and can enhance the sensitivity of cells to g-radiation. More generally, the results support the development of histone deacetylase inhibitors as potential clinical chemo- and radio-sensitizers.