Histone Deacetylation Mechanism

Enzyme: Histone Deacetylases (HDs or HDACs)

Fig. 1 Histone Deacetylation[11]

1. Proton transfer from water to Histidine, activating the water for nucleophilic attack on the acetyl carbonyl, while the active site is stabilized by Zinc. Alternative pathways using other deacetylase enzymes may operate through NAD+ dependent catalytic mechanism (not shown) instead of the active-side metal-dependent mechanism (Fig. 1)[11].
2. Acetic acid leaves with a proton transfer from Histidine.