Dissection of anti-tumor activity of histone deacetylase inhibitor SAHA in NPC cells

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), as a pan HDAC inhibitor, has been approved for clinical use and it has been demonstrated to treat solid tumor. Nevertheless, the mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of SAHA on tumors are still not fully understood. Protein phosphorylation is one of the most important regulatory events in cells, regulating primary biological processes, such as cell division, growth, migration, differentiation, and intercellular communication. The impact of SAHA treatment on cellular phosphorylation and signaling pathways might contribute to our understanding on its therapeutic mechanism. For this purpose, by combining tandem mass tags(TMT)-based quantitative proteomics and titanium dioxide-based phosphopeptide enrichment, we for the first time comprehensively identified and quantified protein phosphorylation in NPC cells toward SAHA treatment.