On May 8, 2017, Cell Reports published research co-authored by 2013 Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Postdoctoral Fellows in Aging Research Program recipient, Deborah Toiber, PhD on discovering that SIRT6 protein is severely deficient in Alzheimer's disease patients and presumably contributes to the onset of the disease.
In Neuroprotective Functions for the Histone Deacetylase SIRT6, Dr. Toiber and fellow researchers noted that SIRT6 plays an important role in the DNA repair process. They observed that high levels of SIRT6 promote DNA repair, while low levels further DNA damage accumulation.
In addition to Alzheimer’s disease, the research team also observed similar deficiencies of the SIRT6 protein in patients with other neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Toiber explains: "If a decrease in SIRT6 and lack of DNA repair is the beginning of the chain that ends in neurodegenerative diseases in seniors, then we should be focusing our research on how to maintain production of SIRT6 and avoid the DNA damage that leads to these diseases."
The journal Cell Reports is only accessible with a subscription, but an abstract is available here. The research was recognized in a related feature story in Medical Express that can be viewed here.
Deborah Toiber, PhD is a Senior Lecturer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
For more information on Alzheimer’s disease, we encourage you to explore our expert-edited Infoaging Guide to Alzheimer’s disease here.
