Differential patterns of histone acetylation in inflammatory bowel diseases

Post-translational modifications of histones, particularly acetylation, are associated with the regulation of
inflammatory gene expression. We used two animal models of inflammation of the bowel and biopsy samples
from patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) to study the expression of acetylated histones (H) 3 and 4 in inflamed
mucosa. Acetylation of histone H4 was significantly elevated in the inflamed mucosa in the trinitrobenzene sulfonic
acid model of colitis particularly on lysine residues (K) 8 and 12 in contrast to non-inflamed tissue. In addition,
acetylated H4 was localised to inflamed tissue and to Peyer’s patches (PP) in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-treated
rat models. Within the PP, H3 acetylation was detected in the mantle zone whereas H4 acetylation was seen in
both the periphery and the germinal centre. Finally, acetylation of H4 was significantly upregulated in inflamed
biopsies and PP from patients with CD. Enhanced acetylation of H4K5 and K16 was seen in the PP. These results
demonstrate that histone acetylation is associated with inflammation and may provide a novel therapeutic target
for mucosal inflammation.

Citation:
Tsaprouni, L., Ito, K., Powell, J., Adcock, I. and Punchard, N. (2011) 'Differential patterns of histone acetylation in inflammatory bowel diseases' Journal of Inflammation-London, 8(1), doi 10.1186/1476-9255-8-1..