Modification of radiation response by epigenetic modifiers

Medical countermeasure of radiation injury, which includes protection, mitigation and therapy, has always been the central focus in radiation biology research worldwide. The area of radiation mitigation or post-irradiation radiation protection however has made very little progress. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) are a class of compounds studied extensively as anticancer agents or radiosensitizers, have been observed to impart beneficial effects against radiation induced morbidity and mortality when administered post-irradiation. We have recently therefore proposed epigenetic modifiers, mainly HDAC inhibitors, may have radiomitigative potential. To support the hypothesis some of our initial observations on mitigation of radiation injury by various HDACi molecules will be discussed. (author)