Plakoglobin is a tumor suppressor gene in
lung cancer; however, the mechanism by which it is downregulated in
lung cancer is largely unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether
histone deacetylases (HDACs) regulate
plakoglobin expression in
lung cancer. The effects of overexpression or knockdown of HDAC7 on
plakoglobin were determined using stably transfected
lung cancer cell lines.
Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were performed to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the HDAC7‑induced suppression of
plakoglobin. A Cell Counting Kit‑8 and Transwell assays were performed, and a nude mouse in vivo model was established to investigate the role of the HDAC7/
plakoglobin pathway in cell migration, invasion and
metastasis. Ectopic expression of HDAC7 was identified to suppress
mRNA and
protein levels of
plakoglobin in
lung cancer cells, whereas silencing HDAC7 with
short hairpin RNA increased the expression of
plakoglobin. HDAC7 was proposed to suppressed
plakoglobin by directly binding to its promoter. Overexpression or knockdown of HDAC7 promoted or inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion, respectively. Furthermore, knockdown of HDAC7 significantly suppressed
tumor growth and
metastasis in vivo. In addition, overexpression of
plakoglobin significantly reduced the enhanced cell proliferation, migration and invasion induced by ectopic HDAC7. In conclusion, suppression of
plakoglobin by HDAC7 promoted the proliferation, migration, invasion and
metastasis in
lung cancer. This novel axis of HDAC7/
plakoglobin may be valuable in the development of novel therapeutic strategies for treating patients with
lung cancer.