Role of the epigenetic factor Sirt7 in neuroinflammation and neurogenesis

Publication date: Available online 20 September 2017
Source:Neuroscience Research
Author(s): Nicolas Burg, Stefan Bittner, Erik Ellwardt
Epigenetic regulators are increasingly recognized as relevant modulators in the immune and nervous system. The class of sirtuins consists of NAD⁺-dependent histone deacetylases that regulate transcription. Sirtuin family member Sirt1 has already been shown to influence the disease course in an animal model of autoimmune neuroinflammation (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)). A role of Sirt7, a related epigenetic regulator, on immune system regulation has been proposed before, as these mice are more susceptible to develop inflammatory cardiomyopathy. Sirt7^−/− animals showed no differences in clinical score compared to wild-type littermates after EAE induction with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) peptide 35-55, although we found subtle immune alterations at different phases of EAE and decreased survival of newly generated neurons in the hippocampus. Our data indicate that Sirt7 has a slight protective impact on both the adaptive immune system and neurogenesis. However, overall this epigenetic factor is not capable of impacting the acute or chronic phase of neuroinflammation.



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