A panel of leading investigators summarizes and synthesizes the new discoveries in the rapidly evolving field of histone acetylation as a key regulatory mechanism for gene expression. The authors describe what has been learned about these proteins, including the identification of the enzymes, the elucidation of the enzymatic mechanisms of action, and the identification of their substrates and their partners. They also review the structures that have been solved for a number of enzymes-both alone and in complex with small molecule inhibitors-and the biological roles of the several histone deacetylases (HDAC) genes that have been knocked out in mice.

A panel of leading investigators summarizes and synthesizes the new discoveries in the rapidly evolving field of histone acetylation as a key regulatory mechanism for gene expression. The authors describe what has been learned about these proteins, including the identification of the enzymes, the elucidation of the enzymatic mechanisms of action, and the identification of their substrates and their partners. They also review the structures that have been solved for a number of enzymes-both alone and in complex with small molecule inhibitors-and the biological roles of the several histone deacetylases (HDAC) genes that have been knocked out in mice.

I. Class I Histone Deacetylases Histone Deacetylase 1 Dominique Meunier and Christian Seiser Biochemistry of Multiprotein HDAC Complexes Alejandro Vaquero, Michael Scher, and Danny Reinberg The Biology of HDAC3 Edward Seto The Biology of HDAC8, a Unique Class I Histone Deacetylase David Waltregny and Vincent Castronovo II. Class II Histone Deacetylases Regulation of Muscle Gene Expression by Histone Deacetylases Timothy A. McKinsey and Eric N. Olson The Class IIa Histone Deacetylases: Functions and Regulation Herbert G. Kasler and Eric Verdin Histone Deacetylases in the Response to Misfolded Proteins J. Andrew McKee and Tso-Pang Yao III. Class III Histone Deacetylases Comparison of Sirtuin Sequences Between Archaea and Vertebrates Roy A. Frye Structure of the Sir2 Family of NAD+-Dependent Histone/Protein Deacetylases Kehao Zhao and Ronen Marmorstein The Enzymology of SIR2 Proteins Margie T. Borra and John M. Denu The Class III Protein Deacetylases: Homologs of Yeast Sir2p Bjoern Schwer, Brian J. North, Nidhi Ahuja, Brett Marshall, and Eric Verdin IV. Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors HDAC Inhibitors: Discovery, Development, and Clinical Impacts Akihiro Ito, Norikazu Nishino, and Minoru Yoshida Cell Cycle Targets of Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Brian Gabrielli HDAC Inhibitors: An Emerging Anticancer Therapeutic Strategy Paul Kwon, Meier Hsu, Dalia Cohen, and Peter Atadja Index

A panel of leading investigators summarizes and synthesizes the new discoveries in the rapidly evolving field of histone acetylation as a key regulatory mechanism for gene expression. The authors describe what has been learned about these proteins, including the identification of the enzymes, the elucidation of the enzymatic mechanisms of action, and the identification of their substrates and their partners. They also review the structures that have been solved for a number of enzymes-both alone and in complex with small molecule inhibitors-and the biological roles of the several histone deacetylases (HDAC) genes that have been knocked out in mice.