SIRT6 Is Required for Normal Retinal Function

The retina is one of the major energy consuming tissues within the body. In this context, synaptic transmission between light-excited rod and cone photoreceptors and downstream ON-bipolar neurons is a highly demanding energy consuming process. Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6), a NAD-dependent deacylase, plays a key role in regulating glucose metabolism. In this study, we demonstrate that SIRT6 is highly expressed in the retina, controlling levels of histone H3K9 and H3K56 acetylation. Notably, despite apparent normal histology, SIRT6 deficiency caused major retinal transmission defects concomitant to changes in expression of glycolytic genes and glutamate receptors, as well as elevated levels of apoptosis in inner retina cells. Our results identify SIRT6 as a critical modulator of retinal function, likely through its effects on chromatin

Identification of and Molecular Basis for SIRT6 Loss-of-Function Point Mutations in Cancer

SummaryChromatin factors have emerged as the most frequently dysregulated family of proteins in cancer. We have previously identified the histone deacetylase SIRT6 as a key tumor suppressor, yet whether point mutations are selected for in cancer remains unclear. In this manuscript, we characterized naturally occurring patient-derived SIRT6 mutations. Strikingly, all the mutations significantly affected either stability or catalytic activity of SIRT6, indicating that these mutations were selected for in these tumors. Further, the mutant proteins failed to rescue sirt6 knockout (SIRT6 KO) cells, as measured by the levels of histone acetylation at glycolytic genes and their inability to rescue the tumorigenic potential of these cells. Notably, the main activity affected in the mutants was histone deacetylation rather than demyristoylation, pointing to the former as the main tumor-suppressive function for SIRT6. Our results identified cancer-associated point mutations in SIRT6, cementing its function as a tumor suppressor in human cancer

Sirtuin 6 inhibition protects against glucocorticoid-induced skeletal muscle atrophy by regulating IGF/PI3K/AKT signaling

Chronic activation of stress hormones such as glucocorticoids leads to skeletal muscle wasting in mammals. However, the molecular events that mediate glucocorticoid-induced muscle wasting are not well understood. Here, we show that SIRT6, a chromatin-associated deacetylase indirectly regulates glucocorticoid-induced muscle wasting by modulating IGF/PI3K/AKT signaling. Our results show that SIRT6 levels are increased during glucocorticoid-induced reduction of myotube size and during skeletal muscle atrophy in mice. Notably, overexpression of SIRT6 spontaneously decreases the size of primary myotubes in a cell-autonomous manner. On the other hand, SIRT6 depletion increases the diameter of myotubes and protects them against glucocorticoid-induced reduction in myotube size, which is associated with enhanced protein synthesis and repression of atrogenes. In line with this, we find that muscle-specific SIRT6 deficient mice are resistant to glucocorticoid-induced muscle wasting. Mechanistically, we find that SIRT6 deficiency hyperactivates IGF/PI3K/AKT signaling through c-Jun transcription factor-mediated increase in IGF2 expression. The increased activation, in turn, leads to nuclear exclusion and transcriptional repression of the FoxO transcription factor, a key activator of muscle atrophy. Further, we find that pharmacological inhibition of SIRT6 protects against glucocorticoid-induced muscle wasting in mice by regulating IGF/PI3K/AKT signaling implicating the role of SIRT6 in glucocorticoid-induced muscle atrophy.Fil: Mishra, Sneha. No especifíca;Fil: Cosentino, Claudia. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Tamta, Ankit Kumar. No especifíca;Fil: Khan, Danish. No especifíca;Fil: Srinivasan, Shalini. No especifíca;Fil: Ravi, Venkatraman. No especifíca;Fil: Abbotto, Elena. Università degli Studi di Genova; ItaliaFil: Arathi, Bangalore Prabhashankar. No especifíca;Fil: Kumar, Shweta. No especifíca;Fil: Jain, Aditi. No especifíca;Fil: Ramaian, Anand S.. No especifíca;Fil: Kizkekra, Shruti M.. No especifíca;Fil: Rajagopal, Raksha. No especifíca;Fil: Rao, Swathi. No especifíca;Fil: Krishna, Swati. No especifíca;Fil: Asirvatham Jeyaraj, Ninitha. Indian Institute of Technology; IndiaFil: Haggerty, Elizabeth R.. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Silberman, Dafne Magalí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; ArgentinaFil: Kurland, Irwin J.. No especifíca;Fil: Veeranna, Ravindra P.. No especifíca;Fil: Jayavelu, Tamilselvan. No especifíca;Fil: Bruzzone, Santina. Università degli Studi di Genova; ItaliaFil: Mostoslavsky, Raul. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Sundaresan, Nagalingam R.. No especifíca

Ischemic Tolerance Protects the Rat Retina from Glaucomatous Damage

Glaucoma is a leading cause of acquired blindness which may involve an ischemic-like insult to retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve head. We investigated the effect of a weekly application of brief ischemia pulses (ischemic conditioning) on the rat retinal damage induced by experimental glaucoma. Glaucoma was induced by weekly injections of chondroitin sulfate (CS) in the rat eye anterior chamber. Retinal ischemia was induced by increasing intraocular pressure to 120 mmHg for 5 min; this maneuver started after 6 weekly injections of vehicle or CS and was weekly repeated in one eye, while the contralateral eye was submitted to a sham procedure. Glaucoma was evaluated in terms of: i) intraocular pressure (IOP), ii) retinal function (electroretinogram (ERG)), iii) visual pathway function (visual evoked potentials, (VEPs)) iv) histology of the retina and optic nerve head. Retinal thiobarbituric acid substances levels were assessed as an index of lipid peroxidation. Ischemic conditioning significantly preserved ERG, VEPs, as well as retinal and optic nerve head structure from glaucomatous damage, without changes in IOP. Moreover, ischemia pulses abrogated the increase in lipid peroxidation induced by experimental glaucoma. These results indicate that induction of ischemic tolerance could constitute a fertile avenue for the development of new therapeutic strategies in glaucoma treatment

SIRT3 deacetylase: the Jekyll and Hyde sirtuin

Post‐translational modifications have crucial roles in regulating the functions of many eukaryotic proteins. Among them, lysine acetylation has been traditionally studied in the context of nuclear histone modifications, and was one of the first to be described as part of the ‘histone code’ hypothesis (Kim et al, 2006). More recently, work from several groups has demonstrated that lysine acetylation also modulates the activity of several non‐histone proteins. In this context, this modification seems particularly abundant on mitochondrial proteins (Schwer et al, 2009). However, the way in which acetylation influences enzyme function and metabolic reprogramming in pathological states remains unknown. In an article published online this month in EMBO reports, Sack and colleagues shed new light on the role of mitochondrial SIRT3 deacetylase during paracetamol‐induced toxicity, describing the mitochondrial protein aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) as a new target of SIRT3, and a protective role for protein acetylation in this context.Fil: Silberman, Dafne Magali. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; ArgentinaFil: Mostoslavsky, Raul. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unido

SIRT6 is required for normal retinal function

The retina is one of the major energy consuming tissues within the body. In this context, synaptic transmission between light-excited rod and cone photoreceptors and downstream ON-bipolar neurons is a highly demanding energy consuming process. Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6), a NAD-dependent deacylase, plays a key role in regulating glucose metabolism. In this study, we demonstrate that SIRT6 is highly expressed in the retina, controlling levels of histone H3K9 and H3K56 acetylation. Notably, despite apparent normal histology, SIRT6 deficiency caused major retinal transmission defects concomitant to changes in expression of glycolytic genes and glutamate receptors, as well as elevated levels of apoptosis in inner retina cells. Our results identify SIRT6 as a critical modulator of retinal function, likely through its effects on chromatin.Fil: Silberman, Dafne Magali. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentina. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Ross, Kenneth. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Sande, Pablo H.. Harvard Medical School; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; ArgentinaFil: Kubota, Shunsuke. Washington University in St. Louis; Estados UnidosFil: Ramaswamy, Sridhar. Harvard Medical School; Estados UnidosFil: Apte, Rajendra S.. Washington University in St. Louis; Estados UnidosFil: Mostoslavsky, Raul. Harvard University; Estados Unido

GLUT1 is up-regulated in SIRT6-KO retina.

<p>a) GLUTl immunoreactivity in cross-section of WT and SIRT6-KO mice retina. Ganglion Cell Layer (GCL), Inner Plexiform Layer (IPL), Inner nuclear Layer (INL) Outer Plexiform Layer (OPL), Outer Nuclear Layer (ONL), Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE). GLUT1 protein (b) and mRNA levels (c) were determined by Western blot and RT-PCR respectively. β-actin was used as loading control. Data are mean ± SE (n = 6 eyes/group) **p<0.01</p

Grm6 is down-regulated in SIRT6-KO retinas.

<p>Whole retina mRNA from WT and KO mice was used to profile the expression of several key genes of glutamate receptors involved in the synaptic transmission in an Affymetrix Mouse Gene 2.1 ST DNA microarray. a) Heatmap representing the hierarchical cluster analysis shows the differential expressed mRNAs between WT and SIRT6 KO retinas. The graphic depicts the expression levels of ionotropic AMPA glutamate receptors (Gria1–4), Glutamate receptor, ionotropic kainate (Grik1-2-4-5), Glutamate [NMDA] receptors (Grin1-2a-c) and metabotropic glutamate receptors (Grm1–8). The expression data for the hierarchical clustering image has been row normalized to a range of zero to one with blue representing the row minimum and red representing the row maximum. b) RNA was purified from SIRT6 WT and KO retinas, and Grm6 levels analyzed by RT-PCR. c) immunofluorescence was performed in SIRT6 WT and KO retinas with the indicated antibodies. PKC-alpha was used as a marker for ON bipolar cells. Ganglion Cell Layer (GCL), Inner Plexiform Layer (IPL), Inner nuclear Layer (INL), Outer Plexiform Layer (OPL), Outer Nuclear Layer (ONL), Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE). Data are mean ± SE (n = 4) **p<0.01 d) Representative fluorescent images of TUNEL analysis performed in WT and SIRT6 KO retinal sections. Apoptotic nuclei (bright green dots) labeled with fluorescein-dUTP were visualized by fluorescence microscopy. Data are mean ± SE (n  = 3) **p<0.01</p

SIRT6 is active in the mouse retina.

<p>a) H3K56 acetylation is shown by immunofluoescence. b) Representative Western blot showing protein levels of SIRT6 and the acetylation levels of H3K56 and H3K9 in chromatin preparations from WT and KO mice retinas. Total H3 was used for normalization. c) Quantification of the intensity of bands was determined by using the ImageJ and is represented as arbitrary units. Data are mean ± SE (n = 6 eyes/group). **p<0.01, ***p<0.001</p