Introduction: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most malignant tumors with a dismal prognosis. Although our understanding of the carcinogenesis of the disease increases continuously, no effective conservative therapeutic strategies exist. Therefore, novel targets have to be defined at the experimental level. Histone deacetylases (HDACs), especially the class I isoenzymes HDAC1, 2, and 3, are highly expressed in PDAC.
Conclusion: This article summarizes the expression and functions of HDAC isoenzymes in PDAC, with a special focus on their promoter-specific mode of action. Although we have gained some molecular insight into the HDAC function in PDAC, less is known about the relevance of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) in PDAC. As an example, we will summarize function of the HAT p300, for which promoter-specific functions were described recently. Increasing the molecular insights into the functions of the acetylating and deacetylating machineries in PDAC are important, since this will lead to novel rationally based therapeutic strategies in the future.