Histone deacetylase activity assay

Abstract

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes that catalyze the removal of acetyl groups from the ε-amino groups of conserved lysine residues in the amino terminal tail of histones. Accumulating evidence suggests that many, if not all, HDACs can also deacetylate nonhistone proteins. Through deacetylating histones and nonhistone proteins, HDACs regulate a variety of cellular processes including gene transcription, cell differentiation, DNA damage responses, and apoptosis. Aberrant HDACs are implicated in many human diseases and, therefore, it is important to have a consistent and reliable assay for analyzing HDAC activities. The focus of this chapter is to provide up-to-date, easy-to-follow, approaches and techniques, for the assay of HDAC enzymatic activities.