SKW 6.4 cell differentiation induced by interleukin 6 is stimulated by butyrate

We investigated if sodium butyrate (NaBu), an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, and its analogs modulate cytokine-induced differentiation of the human B cell line SKW 6.4 transformed by the Epstein-Barr virus. NaBu markedly enhanced interleukin (IL)-6-induced IgM production with an accompanying increase in the level of histone H4 acetylation and augmented IgM production induced by IL-4 and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. From both the enhancing effect of cell differentiation and the effect of inducing histone hyperacetylation in SKW 6.4 cells, other histone deacetylase inhibitors and NaBu analogs were divided into three groups: those that increased both IL-6-induced antibody production and histone acetylation, those that caused histone hyperacetylation, but failed to induce the differentiation, and those that were ineffective at inducing either activity. No agent that enhanced IgM production without inducing histone hyperacetylation was found among the inhibitors and analogs we tested. These results suggest that the increase in the histone acetylation is necessary, but it is insufficient to augment differentiation of SKW 6.4 cells. Thus another activity of NaBu in addition to the inhibition of histone deacetylase may be involved in promoting IL-6-induced differentiation. Our results also suggest that fatty acids that have a straight chain of four carbon atoms or are branched with four and five carbon atoms, which contain no hydrophilic substituents, or those with similar structures, show this other activity.