Figure 5. Butyrate decreases SCAD as an HDAC inhibitor.

(A) Western blot showing SCAD expression in HCT116 cells that were treated with a set of SCFAs (ACT; acetate, PRO; propionate, BUT; butyrate and APB; all of SCFAs) at 5 mM. Right panel shows quantification of SCAD levels relative to PDH levels. (B) Western blot describing SCAD expression in HCT116 cells that were treated with butyrate (5 mM) or TSA (1 μM). Quantification of SCAD expression relative to PDH levels is shown in right panel. (C) Diagram showing epigenetic mechanisms as to how butyrate can modulate gene expression. Butyrate acts as a co-factor for histone acetyltransferases (HATs) through the involvement of ATP-citrate lyase (ACL). Also, butyrate directly inhibits histone deacetylases (HDACs). For statistical analysis, western blot was conducted 3 times per condition. Error bars are Mean ± SEM. ^*p<0.05 and ^**p<0.01 indicates significant difference between cells treated with butyrate vs. controls.