Here we have found that SIRT3 is
differentially expressed in vivo, with the greatest expression observed
in metabolically active tissues like skeletal muscle, where SIRT3 undergoes
dynamic regulation by different environmental regimens. SIRT3 protein level is
decreased by high-fat feeding, while it is increased by short-term fasting
(24-hour) or long-term nutrient deprivation (12-month CR) and exercise
training. In this study we also show that loss of SIRT3 significantly inhibits
AMPK and CREB phosphorylation, which decreases PGC-1α transcriptional expression in muscle. Consequently, we propose a new
model in which SIRT3 leads to potential downstream changes in response to
important environmental signals (Figure ). This model suggests that SIRT3 levels may respond to various
nutritional/energetic and physiological challenges by regulating muscle energy
homeostasis via factors like AMPK and PGC-1α.
Given our study, it will be interesting to test
whether SIRT3-null animals show any defects under certain environmental
challenges. Despite the hyper-acetylation of mitochondrial proteins in SIRT3
knockout mice, the significance of these biochemical changes is unclear. A
recent study of SIRT3-deficient mice by another group did not find defects in
basal metabolism nor adaptive thermogenesis, while the mice were housed in
standard dietary/sedentary conditions [
13]. Similarly,
we found normal treadmill performance in SIRT3 knockout mice while under
standard housing (unpublished observations). Upon challenge with various
environmental signals, however, these animals may respond differently.
Accordingly, we are actively testing how challenges by CR/fasting/high-fat diet
and exercise may affect the SIRT3-null mice and alter key downstream cellular
factors in muscle cells.
The mechanism(s) by which
different environmental variables modulate SIRT3 and activate AMPK in muscle (and other tissues that highly express SIRT3) remains
to be fully elucidated. For example,
activation of acetyl-CoA synthetase 2 (AceCS2) by SIRT3 [
44,
45] may elevate the AMP/ATP ratio
and consequently activate AMPK. Alternatively, a recent proteomics-based
approach has identified many novel SIRT3-interacting partners in human cells,
including the ATP synthase (mitochondrial F1 complex) alpha/beta subunits and
the ubiquinol-cytochrome
c reductase hinge protein, UQCRH [
46]. Since
these proteins (together with NDUFA9 [
17]) serve as critical components of
the ATP-generating machinery in cells, SIRT3 may also potentially modulate the
AMP/ATP ratio
via these factors to activate AMPK. Moreover, we too have
purified additional putative SIRT3-binding proteins from HeLa cells (using a related
cross-linking/immunoaffinity purification method [
47]), which include mitochondrial
acetoacetyl CoA thiolase (also referred to as α-ketothiolase), malate dehydrogenase, thioredoxin
2 (Trx-2), Hsp60, and lactate dehydrogenase (unpublished data). Since some of
these enzymes are important regulators of muscle energy homeostasis, our data
further substantiate that SIRT3 may modulate ATP/energy levels
via key
targets to activate AMPK. It is intriguing to note that a study of an
independent line of SIRT3-knockout mice indicated that the ATP level is
significantly reduced in several tissues [
17], although the effect of SIRT3
deficiency on muscle ATP level has not been reported.
Interestingly, it has also
been shown that activation of AMPK, upon glucose nutrient restriction of muscle
stem cells, causes an increase in the cellular NAD
+/NADH ratio,
consistent with a positive feedback loop needed for prolonged SIRT1 activation [
48], as may occur in our SIRT3 model and merits testing. Indeed a
second
in vitro study independently validates a similar NAD
+/NADH
model
via AMPK [
49]. Strikingly, AMPK activation (as occurs with CR) may also result in
lifespan extension [
50-
52], and future study will reveal if SIRT3 is involved in this
process. It is known that activated AMPK
directly phosphorylates PGC-1α[
32] and CREB [
53]—and that
both AMPK and CREB are involved in the transactivation of PGC-1a [
54,
55].
Lastly, both SIRT3 and SIRT1 promote mitochondrial
biogenesis and fatty acid oxidation
via PGC-1α but in different ways. SIRT3 promotes PGC-1α expression while SIRT1 activates PGC-1α by direct deacetylation [
56]. However, we have found that exercise training regulates SIRT3
but not SIRT1 expression in muscle. At present, it remains to be considered how
these two key sirtuin enzymes may work cooperatively within certain tissues in
response to environmental signals.
Furthermore, it is important to consider
that a phenotype may be tissue-specific, especially if SIRT3 has different
biological roles in the body. For example, in the rennin-angiotensin system,
which plays a key role in the pathophysiology of cardiac and renal disease in
humans, targeted disruption of the angiotensin receptor (
Agtr1a
gene in mice) yields animals with less cardiac and vascular injury, prolonged
lifespan, increased number of mitochondria, and dramatic up-regulation of SIRT3
in kidney tissue—a possible site of SIRT3 action that may contribute, at least
in part, to the phenotype that is observed [
57]. Another
interesting place of molecular action is in brown adipose tissue (BAT), in
which SIRT3 has been previously shown to respond dynamically to CR and regulate
fat cell physiology
via PGC-1α [
10]. With the
recent discovery of BAT in humans (reviewed in [
58]), there are
now new opportunities to explore the role of SIRT3 in diabetes and obesity
research [
59]. Moreover,
after intense swimming, it has been reported that the expression of SIRT3 and
PGC-1α increases in white blood cells to activate the
antioxidant response [
60]. Lastly, in
human skeletal muscle, it has been reported that SIRT3 and PGC-1α expression decline with age and correlate with a sedentary proteomic
profile found in people with decreased metabolic output [
61]. With
exercise, however, these authors observed that the effect is reversed.
Collectively, these data suggest that SIRT3 function is perhaps varied
throughout the body and specialized to meet the unique metabolic/energetic
capacities found within various tissues, particularly in response to
environmental cues.
Thus it will be interesting
to test whether inducible tissue-specific SIRT3-null mice show global metabolic
defects from exercise and/or diet regimens in various parts of the body,
especially with aging. This inducible genetic approach will also allow us to
bypass potential compensatory effects resulting from the lack of SIRT3 during
development. Additionally, a mouse model with increased SIRT3 over-expression
in muscle (and/or other specific tissues) will also be a valuable tool for
further elucidating the biological role(s) of this sirtuin
in vivo. All
of this work will be important as we fight against aging and associated
disorders ranging from type 2 diabetes (and other metabolic diseases) to breast
cancer, in which expression of SIRT3 is aberrant. Therefore, small-molecule activators of SIRT3, currently in
development and testing [
62], may provide novel and key therapeutic routes for the treatment
of a variety of common diseases, perhaps by mimicking the beneficial molecular
effects of exercise and/or caloric restriction
in vivo.