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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

Assays for Validating Histone Acetyltransferase Inhibitors
Published on: August 6, 2020
Phenylalanine-containing hydroxamic acids as selective inhibitors of class IIb histone deacetylases (HDACs)
Stefan Schäfer1, Laura Saunders, Elena Eliseeva
1Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Freiburg, Albertstr. 25, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
Abstract:
We synthesized biarylalanine-containing hydroxamic acids and tested them on immunoprecipitated HDAC1 and HDAC6 and show a subtype selectivity for HDAC6 that was confirmed in cells by Western blot (tubulin vs histones). We obtained an X-ray structure with a HDAC6-selective inhibitor with the bacterial deacetylase HDAH. Docking studies were carried out using HDAC1 and HDAC6 protein models. Antiproliferative activity was shown on cancer cells for selected compounds.
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