Abstract
Sirtuins are NAD+-dependent deacetylase and deacylase enzymes that control important cellular processes, including DNA damage repair, cellular metabolism, mitochondrial function and inflammation. Consequently, mammalian sirtuins are regarded as crucial regulators of cellular function and organism healthspan. Sirtuin activity and NAD+ levels decrease with age in many tissues, and reduced sirtuin expression is associated with several cardiovascular diseases. By contrast, increased sirtuin expression and activity slows disease progression and improves cardiovascular function in preclinical models and delays various features of cellular ageing. The potential cardiometabolic benefits of sirtuins have resulted in clinical trials with sirtuin-modulating agents; although expectations are high, these drugs have not yet been proven to improve healthspan. In this Review, we examine the role of sirtuins in atherosclerosis, summarize advances in the development of compounds that activate or inhibit sirtuin activity and critically evaluate the therapeutic potential of these agents.
Key points
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Sirtuins protect against many processes associated with ageing and atherosclerosis, but only SIRT6 has been shown to extend lifespan in mice.
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Natural compounds with sirtuin-modulating activity can delay or prevent the development of atherosclerosis in preclinical models, but have low bioavailability and off-target effects.
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Small-molecule activators of sirtuins and NAD+ boosters have shown promising cardiometabolic effects in animal models and are well tolerated in healthy volunteers, but clinical trials showing prevention of atherosclerosis or clinical events are lacking.
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Drug discovery has shifted from SIRT1 to SIRT6, because the lifespan-extending and chromatin-remodelling effects of SIRT6 make it an attractive therapeutic target.
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Unravelling the multiple enzymatic activities of the sirtuins and their targets will facilitate drug discovery of specific sirtuin-activating compounds to prevent or treat atherosclerosis.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are funded by British Heart Foundation (BHF) grants RG/13/14/30314, RG/20/2/34763, PG/6/24/32090, PG/16/11/32021, PG/13/14/30314 and CH/2000003, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR Senior Investigator NF-SI-0616-10036, and the BHF Centre for Research Excellence RE/18/1/34212. The authors thank A. K. Uryga (NovoNordisk) for careful reviewing of our manuscript before submission.
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Glossary
- Apoptosis
-
A distinctive and important mode of ‘programmed’ cell death, characterized by cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation and cell death.
- Autophagy
-
A natural process in which unnecessary or damaged cellular components are removed by intrinsic mechanisms, thereby balancing energy sources at crucial times in development and in response to cellular stress.
- Cell senescence
-
A stable cell cycle arrest that can be triggered in normal cells in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli, particularly after DNA damage.
- DNA damage response
-
(DDR). A complex network of genes and intracellular signalling pathways responsible for sensing and responding to DNA damage, regulating DNA repair, cell cycle regulation, replication stress responses and apoptosis.
- Chromatin remodelling
-
Dynamic modification of the chromatin architecture to allow condensed genomic DNA to access the regulatory transcription machinery proteins, thereby controlling gene expression.
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Grootaert, M.O.J., Bennett, M.R. Sirtuins in atherosclerosis: guardians of healthspan and therapeutic targets. Nat Rev Cardiol 19, 668–683 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-022-00685-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-022-00685-x
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