Role of SIRT1 in hematologic malignancies

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) is a protein deacetylase, which regulates various physiological activities by deacetylating different protein substrates. An increasing number of studies have revealed critical roles of SIRT1 in different aspects of cancers including metabolism, proliferation, genomic instability, and chemotherapy resistance. Depending on the protein targets in a certain oncogenic context, SIRT1 may play a unique role in each individual blood cancer subtype. Our previous work showed that activation of SIRT1 in primitive leukemia cells of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) promotes disease maintenance. On the other hand, an SIRT1 agonist was shown to disrupt maintenance of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) stem cells and holds promise as a potential therapeutic approach. Herein, we present a concise summary of the different functions of SIRT1 in hematologic malignancies.