Chidamide, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has been applied in clinical trials for various types of hematological and solid tumors. Although acquired resistance is common in chemotherapy, the mechanism of resistance to chidamide is poorly characterized. The goal of the present study was to explore, in detail, the mechanism for the induced resistance to chidamide, and investigate a potential cross-resistance to other chemotherapeutic drugs. A549 cells were exposed to gradually increasing chidamide concentrations to establish a chidamide-resistant non-small cell lung cancer cell line (A549-CHI-R). The IC50 for chidamide, the proliferation inhibition rate, the total HDAC activity and the HDAC protein level were determined by an MTT assay, colony formation, a fluorometric HDAC activity assay and western blotting, respectively. Overexpression of the HDAC1 gene and HDAC1 gene-knockdown were achieved via plasmid transfection. A549-CHI-R cells demonstrated increased resistance to chidamide (8.6-fold). HDAC1 protein degradation was inhibited and HDAC activity was significantly higher in the A549-CHI-R cells relative to the parental A549 cells. A549-CHI-R cells demonstrated cross-resistance to paclitaxel, vinorelbine and gemcitabine, but not to cisplatin (CDDP) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). These results indicated that HDAC1 may be associated with resistance to chidamide, and HDAC1 may therefore be a predictive marker for chidamide sensitivity in cancer. In addition, A549-CHI-R cells remained sensitive to 5-FU and CDDP, indicating a potential strategy for cancer therapy.
Keywords: G2 cell cycle arrest; acquired resistance; chidamide; cross-resistant; histone deacetylase 1 degradation.