SIRT2 is a tumor suppressor that connects aging, acetylome, cell cycle signaling, and carcinogenesis

One long standing observation in clinical oncology is that age increase is the single most statistically significant factor/variable that predicts for the incidence of solid tumors. This observation suggests that the cellular and molecular processes and mechanisms that direct an organism’s life span may be used to determine the clinical connection between aging and carcinogenesis. In this regard, the genes that impact upon longevity have been characterized in S. cerevisiae and C. elegans, and the human homologs include the Sirtuin family of protein deacetylases. We have recently shown that the primary cytoplasmic sirtuin, Sirt2 appears to meet the criteria as a legitimate tumor suppressor protein. Mice genetically altered to delete Sirt2 develop gender-specific tumorigenesis, with females primarily developing mammary tumors, and males developing multiple different types of gastrointestinal malignancies. Furthermore human tumors, as compared to normal samples, displayed significant decreases in SIRT2 levels suggesting that SIRT2 may also be a human tumor suppressor.