Is anticancer action of HDAC inhibitors - cancer cells specific or it may cause death to other cell types ?

Question

[Alexander]

Some histone deacetylase inhibitors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histone_deacetylase_inhibitor) are used as anti-cancer drugs. They cause a cell cycle arrest. I wonder is it specific action on cancer cells ? Or it will act in the same way on other cells also ?

Context: HDACi also widely used in for neuro-diseases - but they do not cause cell deaths there and some mechanisms of actions are very specific to certain types of neurons (as far as I heard). But may be cell deaths are just dependent on the doses...

[GenoMax]

While you may get an answer, this question is out of scope for this (mainly) bioinformatics focused forum. You should ask this on biology stackexchange or a relevant sub-reddit.

Answer 1

[Jean-Karim Heriche]

There is no straightforward answer. HDAC inhibitors have effects on both cancerous and non-cancerous cells though some cancer cells appear more sensitive. The effect depends on the type of inhibitor and its targets, the dose at which it is used and the availability of targets in the cells the inhibitor is used on. I suggest you read some reviews on the subject, there are plenty.