The interaction of pathogens and its hosts causes a drastic change in the transcriptional landscape in both cells. Among the several mechanisms of gene regulation, transcriptional initiation is probably the main point. In such scenario, the access of transcriptional machinery to promoter is highly regulated by post-translational modification of histones, such as acetylation, phosphorylation and others. Inhibition of histone deacetylases is able to reduce fungal pathogens fitness during infection and, therefore, is currently being considered for the development of new antifungal therapy strategies.
Keywords: Cryptococcus neoformans; fungal pathogens; histone deacetylases; histone deacetylases inhibitors; sodium butyrate; trichostatin A.