Sodium butyrate, as a naturally occurring inhibitor of
histone deacetylases (HDACI), is a non-toxic agent, with an ability to change
histone acetylation and expression of large number genes. This study shows different effects of
sodium butyrate on expression and transcription activity of the
androgen receptor in
cancer (LNCaP, C4-2) and normal (RWPE-1) prostate cells. Moreover, we studied the coregulator expressions and
histone acetylation alteration in
cancer and normal cells. Coregulators, coactivators as well as
corepressors, play an important role in AR-mediated growth and progression of
prostate cancer. There is a competition between coactivators and
corepressors for binding on the AR and therefore the changes in coregulators expression and ratio could be important for
prostate cancer survival. Our study was focused on two coregulators, SMRT and p300, which interact with AR in multiprotein complex and affect the AR transcription activity. Our data indicate that
sodium butyrate has an effect on AR coregulators expression, transcription activity and
histone acetylation in
cancer cells, but there is only minimal effect in normal cells. In addition, the results of changes in acetylation level on
lysine residues of
histone H4 after
sodium butyrate treatment confirm its epigenetic effect on
prostate cancer cells.