Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes that regulate
many important
biological pathways. There is a need for the development of isoform-selective
HDAC inhibitors for further biological applications. Here, we report
the development of trapoxin A analogues as potent and selective inhibitors
of HDAC11, an enzyme that can efficiently remove long-chain fatty
acyl groups from proteins. In particular, we show that one of the
trapoxin A analogues, TD034, has nanomolar potency in enzymatic assays.
We show that in cells, TD034 is active at low micromolar concentrations
and inhibits the defatty acylation of SHMT2, a known HDAC11 substrate.
The high potency and selectivity of TD034 would permit further development
of HDAC11 inhibitors for biological and therapeutic applications.