Diverse and dynamic functions of the Sir silencing complex

• Published in: Nature genetics Vol. 23; no. 3; pp. 281 - 285
• Main Author: Guarente, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 01-11-1999
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Cell Cycle - genetics; Chromatin - genetics; Chromatin - metabolism; DNA Repair - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal Proteins - genetics; Fungal Proteins - metabolism; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; Gene Silencing; Histone Deacetylases; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid - genetics; rRNA; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Sir protein; Sirtuin 2; Sirtuins; Telomere - genetics; Telomere - metabolism; Trans-Activators - genetics; Trans-Activators - metabolism; Yeasts - cytology; Yeasts - enzymology; Yeasts - genetics; Yeasts - metabolism; Yeast; Cell function; Meiosis; Review; Fungi; Gene silencing; Heterochromatin; Regulation(control); DNA; Cell cycle; Ascomycetes; Repair; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 1061-4036; 1546-1718
• DOI: 10.1038/15458

The yeast Sir protein complex has been implicated in transcriptional silencing and suppression of recombination. The Sir complex creates structured chromosomal domains at telomeres, silent mating-type loci and ribosomal DNA to invoke these functional states. Mechanistic insights into the function of Sir proteins implicate a range of activities in yeast, including repair of DNA double-strand breaks, regulation of the mitotic cell cycle, meiosis and ageing. I speculate that the Sir proteins may be capable of enzymatic modification of chromatin and other substrates, which enables them to carry out a broad range of cellular functions.