The SIRT1 deacetylase suppresses intestinal tumorigenesis and colon cancer growth

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 3; no. 4; p. e2020
• Main Authors: Firestein, Ron, Blander, Gil, Michan, Shaday, Oberdoerffer, Philipp, Ogino, Shuji, Campbell, Jennifer, Bhimavarapu, Anupama, Luikenhuis, Sandra, de Cabo, Rafael, Fuchs, Charles, Hahn, William C, Guarente, Leonard P, Sinclair, David A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 16.04.2008; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aging; Analysis; Animals; beta Catenin - metabolism; Biology; Cancer; Cell Biology/Cell Growth and Division; Cell Biology/Cell Signaling; Cell Biology/Cellular Death and Stress Responses; Cell Biology/Gene Expression; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Cell Proliferation; Cell survival; Colon; Colon cancer; Colonic Neoplasms - enzymology; Colonic Neoplasms - pathology; Colorectal cancer; Gastrointestinal diseases; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Genes; Health aspects; Health insurance; Health risks; Humans; Intestine; Laboratories; Life span; Localization; Longevity; Mammals; Medical schools; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Models, Biological; Molecular Biology/Transcription Initiation and Activation; Morbidity; NAD; Nutrient deficiency; Oncology; Oncology/Gastrointestinal Cancers; Oxidative stress; Pathology; Pathology/Pathophysiology; Protein expression; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Rodents; SIRT1 protein; Sirtuin 1; Sirtuins - metabolism; Sirtuins - physiology; Stem cells; Studies; Telomerase; Transcription; Tumorigenesis; Tumors; Womens health; β-catenin; United States > US; Massachusetts
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002020

Numerous longevity genes have been discovered in model organisms and altering their function results in prolonged lifespan. In mammals, some have speculated that any health benefits derived from manipulating these same pathways might be offset by increased cancer risk on account of their propensity to boost cell survival. The Sir2/SIRT1 family of NAD(+)-dependent deacetylases is proposed to underlie the health benefits of calorie restriction (CR), a diet that broadly suppresses cancer in mammals. Here we show that CR induces a two-fold increase SIRT1 expression in the intestine of rodents and that ectopic induction of SIRT1 in a beta-catenin-driven mouse model of colon cancer significantly reduces tumor formation, proliferation, and animal morbidity in the absence of CR. We show that SIRT1 deacetylates beta-catenin and suppresses its ability to activate transcription and drive cell proliferation. Moreover, SIRT1 promotes cytoplasmic localization of the otherwise nuclear-localized oncogenic form of beta-catenin. Consistent with this, a significant inverse correlation was found between the presence of nuclear SIRT1 and the oncogenic form of beta-catenin in 81 human colon tumor specimens analyzed. Taken together, these observations show that SIRT1 suppresses intestinal tumor formation in vivo and raise the prospect that therapies targeting SIRT1 may be of clinical use in beta-catenin-driven malignancies.