The Potential Mechanism of HDAC1-Catalyzed Histone Crotonylation of Caspase-1 in Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer

Nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a predominant subtype of lung cancer and accounts for over 80% of all lung cancer cases. The resistance to pemetrexed (PEM) is frequently occurred and severely affects the NSCLC therapy. Proteomic analysis of histones indicated that the histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) complex could hydrolyze lysine crotonylation on histone3 (H3K18cr), affecting epigenetic regulation in cancers. However, the effect of HDAC1-mediated H3K18cr on the PEM resistance of NSCLC is still unclear. Here, we aimed to explore the function of HDAC1-mediated H3K18cr in NSCLC PEM resistance. The expression of HDAC1 was upregulated in clinical NSCLC tissues and cell lines and correlated with the poor prognosis of NSCLC samples. We constructed the PEM-resistant NSCLC cell lines, and the depletion of HDAC1 remarkably reduced the viability of the cells. The proliferation of PEM-resistant NSCLC cells was decreased by HDAC1 knockdown, and the IC50 of PEM was repressed by the silencing of HDAC1 in the cells. Mechanically, we identified the enrichment of HDAC1 on the promoter of caspase-1 in PEM-resistant NSCLC cells. The depletion of HDAC1 inhibited the enrichment of histone H3K18cr and RNA polymerase II (RNA pol II) on the caspase-1 promoter in the cells. The expression of caspase-1 was suppressed by HDAC1 knockdown. The knockdown of HDAC1 reduced proliferation of PEM-resistant NSCLC cells, in which caspase-1 or GSDMD depletion reversed the effect. Clinically, the HDAC1 expression was negatively associated with caspase-1 and GSDMD in clinical NSCLC tissues, while caspase-1 and GSDMD expression was positively correlated in the samples. Therefore, we concluded that HDAC1-catalyzed histone crotonylation of caspase-1 modulates PEM sensitivity of NSCLC by targeting GSDMD.