Aging is accompanied by a decline in the healthy function of multiple organ systems, leading to increased incidence and mortality from diseases such as type II diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Historically, researchers have focused on investigating individual pathways in isolated organs as a strategy to identify the root cause of a disease, with hopes of designing better drugs. Studies of aging in yeast led to the discovery of a family of conserved enzymes known as the sirtuins, which affect multiple pathways that increase the life span and the overall health of organisms. Since the discovery of the first known mammalian sirtuin, SIRT1, 10 years ago, there have been major advances in our understanding of the enzymology of sirtuins, their regulation, and their ability to broadly improve mammalian physiology and health span. This review summarizes and discusses the advances of the past decade and the challenges that will confront the field in the coming years.

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Mammalian sirtuins: biological insights and disease relevance.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a class of epigenetic enzymes that remove acetyl groups from lysine residues on histones and other proteins. In this Review, the authors highlight the role of HDACs in cancer, neurological diseases and immune disorders, and discuss the development of small-molecule inhibitors. Epigenetic aberrations, which are recognized as key drivers of several human diseases, are often caused by genetic defects that result in functional deregulation of epigenetic proteins, their altered expression and/or their atypical recruitment to certain gene promoters. Importantly, epigenetic changes are reversible, and epigenetic enzymes and regulatory proteins can be targeted using small molecules. This Review discusses the role of altered expression and/or function of one class of epigenetic regulators — histone deacetylases (HDACs) — and their role in cancer, neurological diseases and immune disorders. We highlight the development of small-molecule HDAC inhibitors and their use in the laboratory, in preclinical models and in the clinic.

Histone deacetylases and their inhibitors in cancer, neurological diseases and immune disorders

Chemokines compose a sophisticated communication system used by all our cell types, including immune cells. Chemokine messages are decoded by specific receptors that initiate signal transduction events leading to a multitude of cellular responses, leukocyte chemotaxis and adhesion in particular. Critical determinants of the in vivo activities of chemokines in the immune system include their presentation by endothelial cells and extracellular matrix molecules, as well as their cellular uptake via "silent" chemokine receptors (interceptors) leading either to their transcytosis or to degradation. These regulatory mechanisms of chemokine histotopography, as well as the promiscuous and overlapping receptor specificities of inflammation-induced chemokines, shape innate responses to infections and tissue damage. Conversely, the specific patterns of homeostatic chemokines, where each chemokine is perceived by a single receptor, are charting lymphocyte navigation routes for immune surveillance. This review presents our current understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the cellular perception and pathophysiologic meaning of chemokines.

Chemokines in Innate and Adaptive Host Defense: Basic Chemokinese Grammar for Immune Cells

Circulating blood monocytes supply peripheral tissues with macrophage and dendritic cell (DC) precursors and, in the setting of infection, also contribute directly to immune defense against microbial pathogens. In humans and mice, monocytes are divided into two major subsets that either specifically traffic into inflamed tissues or, in the absence of overt inflammation, constitutively maintain tissue macrophage/DC populations. Inflammatory monocytes respond rapidly to microbial stimuli by secreting cytokines and antimicrobial factors, express the CCR2 chemokine receptor, and traffic to sites of microbial infection in response to monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 (CCL2) secretion. In murine models, CCR2-mediated monocyte recruitment is essential for defense against Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Toxoplasma gondii, and Cryptococcus neoformans infection, implicating inflammatory monocytes in defense against bacterial, protozoal, and fungal pathogens. Recent studies indicate that inflammatory monocyte recruitment to sites of infection is complex, involving CCR2-mediated emigration of monocytes from the bone marrow into the bloodstream, followed by trafficking into infected tissues. The in vivo mechanisms that promote chemokine secretion, monocyte differentiation and trafficking, and finally monocyte-mediated microbial killing remain active and important areas of investigation.

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Monocyte-Mediated Defense Against Microbial Pathogens

Aspergillus species are globally ubiquitous saprophytes found in a variety of ecological niches. Almost 200 species of aspergilli have been identified, less than 20 of which are known to cause human disease. Among them, Aspergillus fumigatus is the most prevalent and is largely responsible for the increased incidence of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in the immunocompromised patient population. IA is a devastating illness, with mortality rates in some patient groups reaching as high as 90%. Studies identifying and assessing the roles of specific factors of A. fumigatus that contribute to the pathogenesis of IA have traditionally focused on single-gene deletion and mutant characterization. In combination with recent large-scale approaches analyzing global fungal responses to distinct environmental or host conditions, these studies have identified many factors that contribute to the overall pathogenic potential of A. fumigatus. Here, we provide an overview of the significant findings regarding A. fumigatus pathogenesis as it pertains to invasive disease.

Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus in Invasive Aspergillosis

Invasive aspergillosis is a severe pneumonia that is usually fatal despite currently available therapy. The disease disproportionately afflicts immunocompromised patients, indicating the critical importance of the immune status of the host in this infection, but the defense mechanisms against this pathogen remain incompletely understood. In the current study, we hypothesized that the chemokine ligand monocyte chemotactic protein-1, also designated CC chemokine ligand-2 (MCP-1/CCL2) is necessary for effective host defense against invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised hosts. We found a rapid and marked induction of MCP-1/CCL2 in the lungs of neutropenic mice with invasive aspergillosis. Neutralizing MCP-1/CCL2 resulted in twofold greater mortality and greater than threefold increase in pathogen burden in the lungs. Neutralization of MCP-1/CCL2 also resulted in reduced recruitment of NK cells to the lungs at early time points, but did not affect the number of other leukocyte effector cells in the lungs. Ab-mediated depletion of NK cells similarly resulted in impaired defenses against the infection, resulting in a greater than twofold increase in mortality and impaired clearance of the pathogen from the lungs. These data establish MCP-1/CCL2–mediated recruitment of NK cells to the lungs as a critical early host defense mechanism in invasive aspergillosis and demonstrate NK cells to be an important and previously unrecognized effector cell in this infection.

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Chemokine-mediated recruitment of NK cells is a critical host defense mechanism in invasive aspergillosis

Background 
Growing evidence suggests that sirtuins, a family of seven distinct NAD-dependent enzymes, are involved in the regulation of neuronal survival. Indeed, SIRT1 has been reported to protect against neuronal death, while SIRT2 promotes neurodegeneration. The effect of SIRTs 3–7 on the regulation of neuronal survival, if any, has yet to be reported.


Methodology and Principal Findings 
We examined the effect of expressing each of the seven SIRT proteins in healthy cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) or in neurons induced to die by low potassium (LK) treatment. We report that SIRT1 protects neurons from LK-induced apoptosis, while SIRT2, SIRT3 and SIRT6 induce apoptosis in otherwise healthy neurons. SIRT5 is generally localized to both the nucleus and cytoplasm of CGNs and exerts a protective effect. In a subset of neurons, however, SIRT5 localizes to the mitochondria and in this case it promotes neuronal death. Interestingly, the protective effect of SIRT1 in neurons is not reduced by treatments with nicotinamide or sirtinol, two pharmacological inhibitors of SIRT1. Neuroprotection was also observed with two separate mutant forms of SIRT1, H363Y and H355A, both of which lack deacetylase activity. Furthermore, LK-induced neuronal death was not prevented by resveratrol, a pharmacological activator of SIRT1, at concentrations at which it activates SIRT1. We extended our analysis to HT-22 neuroblastoma cells which can be induced to die by homocysteic acid treatment. While the effects of most of the SIRT proteins were similar to that observed in CGNs, SIRT6 was modestly protective against homocysteic acid toxicity in HT-22 cells. SIRT5 was generally localized in the mitochondria of HT-22 cells and was apoptotic.


Conclusions/Significance 
Overall, our study makes three contributions - (a) it represents the first analysis of SIRT3–7 in the regulation of neuronal survival, (b) it shows that neuroprotection by SIRT1 can be mediated by a novel, non-catalytic mechanism, and (c) that subcellular localization may be an important determinant in the effect of SIRT5 on neuronal viability.

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Opposing Effects of Sirtuins on Neuronal Survival: SIRT1-Mediated Neuroprotection Is Independent of Its Deacetylase Activity

HDAC4 is a Class II histone deacetylase (HDAC) that is highly expressed in the brain, but whose functional significance in the brain is not known. We show that forced expression of HDAC4 in cerebellar granule neurons protects them against low potassium-induced apoptosis. HDAC4 also protects HT22 neuroblastoma cells from death induced by oxidative stress. HDAC4-mediated neuroprotection does not require its HDAC catalytic domain and cannot be inhibited by chemical inhibitors of HDACs. Neuroprotection by HDAC4 also does not require the Raf-MEK-ERK or the PI-3 kinase-Akt signaling pathways and occurs despite the activation of c-jun, an event that is generally believed to condemn neurons to die. The protective action of HDAC4 occurs in the nucleus and is mediated by a region that contains the nuclear localization signal. HDAC4 inhibits the activity of cyclin-dependent kinase-1 (CDK1) and the progression of proliferating HEK293T and HT22 cells through the cell cycle. Mice-lacking HDAC4 have elevated CDK1 activity and display cerebellar abnormalities including a progressive loss of Purkinje neurons postnatally in posterior lobes. Surviving Purkinje neurons in these lobes have duplicated soma. Furthermore, large numbers of cells within these affected lobes incorporate BrdU, indicating cell-cycle progression. These abnormalities along with the ability of HDAC4 to inhibit CDK1 and cell-cycle progression in cultured cells suggest that neuroprotection by HDAC4 is mediated by preventing abortive cell-cycle progression.

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HDAC4 inhibits cell-cycle progression and protects neurons from cell death.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the first and second most prevalent motor and neurodegenerative disease, respectively. The clinical symptoms of PD result from a loss of midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons. However, the molecular cause of DA neuron loss remains elusive. Mounting evidence implicates enhanced inflammatory response in the development and progression of PD pathology. This review examines current research connecting PD and inflammatory response.

Parkinson's disease and enhanced inflammatory response.

The expression of histone deacetylase-related protein (HDRP) is reduced in neurons undergoing apoptosis. Forced reduction of HDRP expression in healthy neurons by treatment with antisense oligonucleotides also induces cell death. Likewise, neurons cultured from mice lacking HDRP are more vulnerable to cell death. Adenovirally mediated expression of HDRP prevents neuronal death, showing that HDRP is a neuroprotective protein. Neuroprotection by forced expression of HDRP is not accompanied by activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt or Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway, and treatment with pharmacological inhibitors of these pathways fails to inhibit the neuroprotection by HDRP. Stimulation of c-Jun phosphorylation and expression, an essential feature of neuronal death, is prevented by HDRP. We found that HDRP associates with c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and inhibits its activity, thus explaining the inhibition of c-Jun phosphorylation by HDRP. HDRP also interacts with histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) and recruits it to the c-Jun gene promoter, resulting in an inhibition of histone H3 acetylation at the c-Jun promoter. Although HDRP lacks intrinsic deacetylase activity, treatment with pharmacological inhibitors of histone deacetylases induces apoptosis even in the presence of ectopically expressed HDRP, underscoring the importance of c-Jun promoter deacetylation by HDRP-HDAC1 in HDRP-mediated neuroprotection. Our results suggest that neuroprotection by HDRP is mediated by the inhibition of c-Jun through its interaction with JNK and HDAC1.

Brad E. Morrison

Papers

Chemokine-mediated recruitment of NK cells is a critical host defense mechanism in invasive aspergillosis

Opposing Effects of Sirtuins on Neuronal Survival: SIRT1-Mediated Neuroprotection Is Independent of Its Deacetylase Activity

HDAC4 inhibits cell-cycle progression and protects neurons from cell death.

Parkinson's disease and enhanced inflammatory response.

Neuroprotection by histone deacetylase-related protein.