Sodium butyrate is a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...

with formula Na(C₃H₇COO). It is the

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quanti ...

butyric acid Butyric acid (; from grc, βούτῡρον, meaning "butter"), also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a straight-chain alkyl carboxylic acid with the chemical formula CH3CH2CH2CO2H. It is an oily, colorless liquid with an unpl ...

. It has various effects on cultured mammalian cells including inhibition of

proliferation Proliferation may refer to: Weapons *Nuclear proliferation, the spread of nuclear weapons, material, and technology *Chemical weapon proliferation, the spread of chemical weapons, material, and technology * Small arms proliferation, the spread of ...

, induction of

differentiation Differentiation may refer to: Business * Differentiation (economics), the process of making a product different from other similar products * Product differentiation, in marketing * Differentiated service, a service that varies with the identity ...

and induction or

repression Repression may refer to: * Memory inhibition, the ability to filter irrelevant memories from attempts to recall * Political repression, the oppression or persecution of an individual or group for political reasons * Psychological repression, the p ...

of gene expression. As such, it can be used in lab to bring about any of these effects. Specifically, butyrate treatment of cells results in histone hyperacetylation, and butyrate itself inhibits class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity, specifically

HDAC1 Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''HDAC1'' gene. Function Histone acetylation and deacetylation, catalyzed by multisubunit complexes, play a key role in the regulation of eukaryotic gene expression. Th ...

HDAC2 Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''HDAC2'' gene. It belongs to the histone deacetylase class of enzymes responsible for the removal of acetyl groups from lysine residues at the N-terminal region of the co ...

HDAC3 Histone deacetylase 3 is an enzyme encoded by the ''HDAC3'' gene in both humans and mice. Function Histones are highly alkaline proteins that package and order DNA into structural units called nucleosomes, which comprise the major protein comp ...

, and butyrate can be used in determining histone deacetylene in

chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important ...

structure and function.

Inhibition Inhibitor or inhibition may refer to: In biology * Enzyme inhibitor, a substance that binds to an enzyme and decreases the enzyme's activity * Reuptake inhibitor, a substance that increases neurotransmission by blocking the reuptake of a neurotra ...

HDAC Histone deacetylases (, HDAC) are a class of enzymes that remove acetyl groups (O=C-CH3) from an ε-N-acetyl lysine amino acid on a histone, allowing the histones to wrap the DNA more tightly. This is important because DNA is wrapped around his ...

activity is estimated to affect the expression of only 2% of mammalian genes. In the lab, sodium butyrate is usually found as a white, water-soluble, crystalline solid. The chemical is notable for having a very strong, unpleasant smell that lingers. When working with sodium butyrate, gloves, eye protection and respiratory masks are advised for safety purposes. The compound is found in human diet, notably produced in large amounts from

dietary fiber Dietary fiber (in British English fibre) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical composition, and can be grouped generally by th ...

in the gut and present in Parmesan cheese and butter. Nevertheless, the most common source of sodium butyrate in the gut is from consumption of

legumes A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

See also

References

Further reading