Butyrate suppresses murine mast cell proliferation and cytokine production through inhibiting histone deacetylase

Beyond their nutritional impact to colonic epithelial cells, the intestinal microbiota metabolite butyrate has pleotropic effects to host cells and is known for its beneficial effects on intestinal homeostasis and metabolism. However, it remains unclear how it modulates mast cell function. Here, we demonstrate that butyrate profoundly inhibited proliferation of mouse mastocytoma P815 cells through inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, as well as decreasing c-Kit activation. In addition, butyrate increased early- and late-stage apoptotic P815 cells. In murine bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC), butyrate-suppressed FcεRI-dependent tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) release without affecting β-Hexosaminidase, but that was associated with decreased mitogen-activated protein kinase extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinases activation. Butyrate treatment substantially enhanced histone 3 acetylation in both P815 and BMMC and decreased FcεRI-dependent mRNA expression of tnf-α and il-6 in BMMC, mimicking the effect of Trichostatin A, a known histone deacetylase inhibitor. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that butyrate enhanced acetylation of the tnf-α and il-6 promoter regions but blocked RNA polymerase II binding to the promoters of tnf-α and il-6 genes, indicating suppressed transcription initiation. These phenotypes mimicked those of Trichostatin A treatment. In conclusion, butyrate inhibits cell proliferation and increases cell apoptosis in mastocytoma P815 cells and suppresses FcεRI-dependent cytokine production in murine primary BMMC, which are likely mediated by HDAC inhibition.