Objective This study aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of neddylation of HDAC1 underlying drug resistance of AML cells. Methods Evaluation experiments of effects of HDAC1 on drug resistance of AML cells were performed with AML cell transfected with constructs overexpressing HDAC1 or multi-drug resistance AML cells transfected with siRNA for HDAC1 through observing cell viability, percentage of apoptotic cell, doxorubicin-releasing index and multidrug resistance associated protein 1 (MRP1) expression. Neddylation or ubiquitination of HDAC1 was determined by immunoprecipitation or Ni2 + pull down assay followed by western blot. The role of HDAC1 was in vivo confirmed by xenograft in mice. Results HDAC1 was significantly upregulated in refractory AML patients, and in drug-resistant AML cells (HL-60/ADM and K562/A02). Intracellular HDAC1 expression promoted doxorubicin resistance of HL-60, K562, and primary bone marrow cells (BMCs) of remission AML patients as shown by increasing cell viability and doxorubicin-releasing index, inhibiting cell apoptosis. Moreover, HDAC1 protein level in AML cells was regulated by the Nedd8-mediated neddylation and ubiquitination, which further promoted HDAC1 degradation. In vivo, HDAC1 overexpression significantly increased doxorubicin resistance; while HDACs inhibitor Panobinostat markedly improved the inhibitory effect of doxorubicin on tumor growth. Furthermore, HDAC1 silencing by Panobinostat and/or lentivirus mediated RNA interference against HDAC1 effectively reduced doxorubicin resistance, resulting in the inhibition of tumor growth in AML bearing mice. Conclusion Our findings suggested that HDAC1 contributed to the multidrug resistance of AML and its function turnover was regulated, at least in part, by post-translational modifications, including neddylation and ubiquitination. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12964-019-0393-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundAlthough asparagine synthetase (AsnS) is associated with drug resistance in leukemia, its function in extranodal natural killer (NK)/T-cell lymphoma (ENKTL) remains unclear.MethodsThe present study investigated the relationship between baseline AsnS mRNA levels and response to asparaginase in ENKTL cell lines. It also determined whether upregulating or downregulating the AsnS mRNA level induces or reverses asparaginase-resistant phenotype.ResultsInterestingly, considerable differences were observed in the sensitivity to asparaginase of the five ENKTL cell lines. The AsnS expression levels were positively correlated with the IC50 values. In addition, the asparaginase resistance was induced or reversed by upregulating or downregulating the AsnS mRNA level in vivo and in vitro. Functional analyses indicated that AsnS did not affect the proliferation and apoptosis of ENKTL cells in the absence of asparaginase.ConclusionTogether, the data stress the importance of AsnS in the sensitivity to asparaginase in ENKTL and suggest a different therapeutic strategy for patients with a different level of AsnS expression.