Inhibition of class I histone deacetylase with an apicidin derivative prevents cardiac hypertrophy and failure

AIMS: Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of chromatin remodelling via histone acetylation/deacetylation for the control of cardiac gene expression. Specific histone deacetylases (HDACs) can, in fact, play a positive or negative role in determining cardiac myocyte (CM) size. Here, we report on the effect on hypertrophy development of three inhibitors (HDACi) of class I HDACs. METHODS AND RESULTS: The compounds were first analysed in vitro by scoring hypertrophy, expression of foetal genes, and apoptosis of neonatal rat CMs stimulated with phenylephrine, an alpha1-adrenergic agonist. This initial screening indicated that a truncated derivative of apicidin with class I HDAC specif…