Emerging roles of SIRT6 on telomere maintenance, DNA repair, metabolism and mammalian aging.
With the characterization of Sir2 gene in yeast aging, its mammalian homologs Sirtuins 1–7 have been attracting attention from scientists with various research backgrounds. Among Sirtuins, SIRT1 is the most extensively studied. Recent progress on mammalian Sirtuins has shown that SIRT6 as a histone deacetylase may also play a critical role in regulating mammalian aging. This review summarizes recent advances on SIRT6 as a key modulator of telomere structure, DNA repair, metabolism, and NF-kappa B pathway in aging. In addition, we discuss the challenges that remain to be studied in SIRT6 biology.