Deregulated expression of HDAC3 in colorectal cancer and its clinical significance.

Abstract

To date, 4 classes of histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been identified in humans. Class I HDACs are zinc-dependent and NAD+-independent enzymes, and include 4 isoforms closely related to yeast RPD3: HDAC1, 2, 3, and 8.The aims of the study were to quantitatively evaluate the expression of HDAC3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to correlate its expression levels with clinicopathological parameters.We characterized expression patterns of HDAC3 as class I HDAC isoforms in a cohort of 48 CRC patients by quantitative (real-time) reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In addition, the potential relationship between HDAC3 expression levels and clinicopathological parameters in patients suffering from CRC was explored.We found that HDAC3 was highly expressed in colorectal tumors compared to normal colorectal tissues (p < 0.05). Furthermore, we found significant correlations between HDAC3 expression levels and tumor differentiation grades (p < 0.05).In this prospective study we identified a pronounced HDAC3 expression pattern in CRC. Our findings support an important role of HDAC3 as a complementary molecular marker for existing histopathological diagnostic elements; it might also have applications in prognostic and targeted therapy. Furthermore, HDAC3 can be used as a biomarker to differentiate between tumor borders and margins, and it may also be useful for characterizing field cancerization in CRC.