Definition
Sirtuins are a class of NAD+-dependent enzymes that possess deacylase activity (including deacetylase, desuccinylase, demalonylase, demyristoylase, and depalmitoylase) or mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase activity. The name comes from the yeast gene “silent mating-type information regulation 2” (Sir2), the only sirtuin gene in yeast.
Overview
Sirtuins play a major role in regulation of almost all cellular functions. This entry briefly summarizes the actions of the 7 mammalian sirtuins, their protein targets, intracellular localization, the pathways they modulate, and their role in common diseases of aging. Abbreviations used are listed in Box 1. The importance of sirtuins in aging is widely appreciated. Current knowledge in this field is enormous, with numerous reviews providing more details (e.g., Morris 2013; Imai and Guarente 2016; O’Callaghan and Vassilopoulos 2017). Sirtuins 1, 6, and 7 are located in the nucleus, sirtuin 2 is cytoplasmic, and sirtuins 3, 4, and 5 are...
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Morris, B.J. (2021). Sirtuins in Aging. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22009-9_1037
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