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Featured Review
Cellscience Reviews Vol 4 No 3
ISSN 1742-8130 |
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Targeting epigenetic pathways in obesity and diabetes
Matthew W. Lawless 2, Suzanne Norris 2, Kenneth J. O’Byrne 1 & Steven G. Gray 1
1 Translational Cancer Research Group,
2 Hepatology Research Division & Dept. of Clinical Medicine,
Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Received 15th January © Cellscience 2008
The 'histone code' is a well-established hypothesis describing the idea that specific patterns of post-translational modifications to histones act like a molecular ‘code’ recognised and used by non-histone proteins to regulate specific chromatin functions. One modification which has received significant attention is that of histone acetylation. The enzymes which regulate this modification are described as histone acetyltransferases or HATs, and histone deacetylases or HDACs (Gray and Ekström, 2001). Due to their conserved catalytic domain HDACs have been actively targeted as a therapeutic target. The pro-inflammatory environment and Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress are increasingly being recognised as critical elements in both diabetes and obesity. The present review will discuss the current knowledge surrounding the clinical potential & current development of histone deacetylases for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, and the molecular mechanisms by which such inhibitors may play important functions in targeting ER stress and inflammation.
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