Our recent study demonstrated that HDAC4 protein specifically increases in mesenteric artery from spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) compared with Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Vascular inflammation is important for pathogenesis of hypertension. We examined whether HDAC4 affects vascular inflammatory responses and promotes hypertension. In vivo, blood pressure, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and VCAM-1 expression in isolated mesenteric artery were elevated in young SHR (7 wk old) compared with age-matched WKY, which were prevented by long-term treatment of SHR with an HDACs inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA; 500 g·kg Ϫ1 ·day Ϫ1 for 3 wk). In isolated mesenteric artery, the increased angiotensin II-induced contraction in SHR was reversed by TSA. The endothelium-dependent relaxation induced by ACh in SHR was augmented by TSA. In cultured rat mesenteric arterial smooth muscle cells (SMCs), expression of HDAC4 mRNA and protein was increased by TNF-␣ (10 ng/ml). TSA (10 M, pretreatment for 30 min) inhibited VCAM-1 expression and NF-B phosphorylation induced by TNF (10 ng/ml, 24 h or 20 min) in SMCs. HDAC4 small interfering RNA inhibited TNF-induced monocyte adhesion, VCAM-1 expression, transcriptional activity of NF-B, and ROS production in SMCs. The present results demonstrated that proinflammatory effects of HDACs may mediate the further development of hypertension in SHR. It is also suggested in cultured vascular SMCs that TNF-induced HDAC4 mediates vascular inflammation likely via VCAM-1 induction through ROS-dependent NF-B activation. oxygen radicals; smooth muscle; contractile function CAM IS ASSOCIATED WITH A VARIETY of cell functions including inflammation, apoptosis, and muscular contraction. Recent evidence indicates that CaM-related proteins are responsible for cardiovascular diseases. In the previous study, we compared expression levels of six CaM-related proteins with almost unknown functions in vasculature [CaMKII␦, eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K; also known as CaMKIII), histone deacetylase (HDAC)4, HDAC5, death associated protein kinase (DAPK)3, and CaM serine kinase (CASK)] in aorta and mesenteric artery from spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) (48). As a result, we for the first time demonstrated that expressions of eEF2K, HDAC4, and DAPK3 protein increased in SHR compared with WKY. However, it remained to be clarified how each CaM-related protein might affect vascular pathophysiology and control the development of hypertension.HDACs have been considered as transcriptional corepressors that catalyze histone deacetylation in diverse physiological systems (33, 42). Up to now, HDACs have been classified into four groups termed class I HDACs (HDAC1, 2, 3, and 8), class II HDACs (HDAC4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10), class III HDACs, and class IV HDAC (HDAC11). The class II HDACs are further divided into the class IIa (HDAC4, 5, 7, 9) and the class IIb (HDAC6 and 10) (26). A recent study clarified that the class I and IIa HDACs play critical roles in mediating cardiac h...