Definition

An orally bioavailable pan-inhibitor of human histone deacetylase (HDAC), with potential antineoplastic activity. Upon administration, bisthianostat selectively binds to and inhibits HDACs, which inhibits deacetylation of histone proteins and leads to the accumulation of highly acetylated histones. This may result in an induction of chromatin remodeling, the inhibition of tumor oncogene transcription, and the selective transcription of tumor suppressor genes. This prevents cell division, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This may inhibit the proliferation of susceptible tumor cells. HDACs, upregulated in many tumor cell types, are a family of enzymes that deacetylate histone proteins.