A dual role for Hdac1: oncosuppressor in tumorigenesis, oncogene in tumor maintenance

Abstract

Aberrant recruitment of histone deacetylases (HDACs) by the oncogenic fusion protein PML-RAR is involved in the pathogenesis of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). PML-RAR, however, is not sufficient to induce disease in mice but requires additional oncogenic lesions during the preleukemic phase. Here, we show that knock-down of Hdac1 and Hdac2 dramatically accelerates leukemogenesis in transgenic preleukemic mice. These events are not restricted to APL because lymphomagenesis driven by deletion of p53 or, to a lesser extent, by c-myc overexpression, was also accelerated by Hdac1 knock-down. In the preleukemic phase of APL, Hdac1 counteracts the activity of PML-RAR in (1) blocking differenti..