SirT1 belongs to a member of the sirtuin family of proteins, homologs to the yeast Sir2 protein. Members of the sirtuin family are characterized by a sirtuin core domain and grouped into four classes. The functions of human sirtuins have not yet been determined; however, yeast sirtuin proteins are known to regulate epigenetic gene silencing and suppress recombination of rDNA. SirT1 deacetylase activity is inhibited by nicotinamide and activated by resveratrol. In addition, SirT1 activity may be regulated by phosphorylation, as it is phosphorylated at Ser27 and Ser47 in vivo. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants.
