Hypoacetylation in association with histone 3 modulation in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Aberrant histone deacetylase expression may cause imbalance between acetylation and deacetylation of histone and play roles in tumor transformation. We found that histone 3 was modulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma. We determined if histone 3 modulation is related to the aberrant expression of histone deacetylase.We analyzed human liver and hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and fibroblast and fibrosarcoma cell lines for the expression of histone 3, histone deacetylase 1 and acetylated histone 3 using immunohistochemistry, western blot and immunofluorescence.Histone deacetylase 1 and histone 3 were more strongly detected in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue and fibrosarcoma cells than in liver tissues and fibroblast cells, respectively. However, acetylated histone 3 was more strongly expressed in normal liver and fibroblast cells and less expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma and fibrosarcoma cells.Histone deacetylase 1 overexpression and hypoacetylation of histone 3 might play critical roles in the modulation of histone 3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma.