Could SIRT6 hold the key to new drugs for atherosclerosis?

The role and regulation of Sirtuin 6 in vascular smooth muscle cells

BHF Professor Martin Bennett and colleagues at the University of Cambridge are working out if a protein called SIRT6 could be a target for new drugs to treat atherosclerosis, a condition where fatty materials build-up inside arteries. A heart attack or stroke can result from blood clots formed by the breakdown and rupture of fatty materials inside arteries. Blood vessel cells, called vascular smooth muscle cells, help keep the fatty material contained and repair ruptures. Vascular smooth muscle cells taken from arteries with advanced atherosclerosis, and grown in the lab, show a number of characteristic features. They grow slowly, die early, and have extensive DNA damage. Molecules that control vascular smooth muscle cell activity could be important in atherosclerosis development. Professor Bennett has evidence that protein called sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) is reduced in vascular smooth muscle cells when someone has atherosclerosis. He and colleagues will confirm this finding and will study whether and how SIRT6 controls vascular smooth muscle cell behaviour in atherosclerosis. In this project Professor Bennet will examine whether increasing levels of SIRT6 could promote the activity of vascular smooth muscle cells and therefore protect against atherosclerosis. This work will reveal the role of SIRT6 in atherosclerosis and could eventually lead to new drugs to treat the condition.