Sirtuin 7
NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin 7 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SIRT7 gene. SIRT7 is member of the mammalian sirtuin family of proteins, which are homologs to the yeast Sir2 protein. Function SIRT7 facilitates the transcription of DNA by DNA polymerase I, DNA polymerase II, and DNA polymerase III. In humans cells, SIRT7 has only been shown to interact with two other molecules: RNA polymerase I (RNA Pol I) and upstream binding factor (UBF). SIRT7 is localized to the nucleolus and interacts with RNA Pol I. Chromatin immunoprecipitation studies demonstrate that SIRT7 localizes to rDNA, and coimmunoprecipitation shows that SIRT7 binds RNA Pol I. In addition SIRT7 interacts with UBF, a major component of the RNA Pol I initiation complex. It is not known whether or not SIRT7 is modifying RNA Pol I and/or UBF, and if so, what those modifications are. SIRT7 is expressed more in metabolically active tissues, such as liver and spleen, and less in non-proliferating tissues, such as heart and brain. Furthermore, it has been shown that SIRT7 is necessary for rDNA transcription. Knock down of SIRT7 in HEK293 cells resulted in decreased rRNA levels. This same study found that this SIRT3 knockdown