Abstract
Melanoma differentiation-associated gene/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24) is a cytokine that can activate monocytes and T helper 2 cells. The expression of mda-7/IL-24 gradually fades with the progression of melanoma, and it is undetectable at the metastatic stage. Ectopic expression of mda-7/IL-24 selectively suppresses growth and induces apoptosis in cancer cells with little harm to normal cells. However, the transcriptional regulation of the mda-7/IL-24 gene has not been extensively studied. In this study, we show that the expression of mda-7/IL-24 was upregulated by the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors trichostatin A (TSA) and sodium butyrate (NaBu), whereas it was downregulated by HDAC4. We also found that the histone acetylation level and the binding of the transcriptional factor Sp1 to the mad-7 promoter were reduced upon HDAC4 treatment. Moreover, the HDAC inhibitor TSA induced histone hyperacetylation and stimulated Sp1 binding to the mda-7/IL-24 promoter, which in turn enhanced the expression of mda-7/IL-24. Therefore, we conclude that histone acetylation modification plays an important role in the regulation of mda-7/IL-24 and that the transcription factor Sp1 participates in this process.