Sirt6 Heterozygosity Exacerbates Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E Deficient Mice

Sirt6 is a member of the class III histone deacetylase family and is reported to promote longevity. Whether Sirt6 is involved in atherosclerosis, one aging associated disease and the major cause of cardiovascular diseases, is unknown. We investigated effects of Sirt6 on atherosclerosis development. We found that in human atherosclerotic plaques, Sirt6 expression was decreased. Sirt6+/-ApoE-/- mice exhibited increased atherosclerosis development and decreased plaque stability than ApoE-/- mice. We found that Sirt6 downregulation showed increased expression of NKG2D ligands (H60b in mice and MICA/B in human). Sirt6 bound to promoters of these genes and regulated the H3K9 acetylation levels. Thus, atherosclerosis development was promoted by Sirt6 heterozygosity and epigenetic modification of NKG2D ligand expression is involved in this process.