The mammalian sirtuin family has attracted tremendous attention over the past few years as stress adaptors and post-translational modifier. They have involved in diverse cellular processes including DNA repair, energy metabolism, and tumorigenesis. Notably, genomic instability and metabolic reprogramming are two of characteristic hallmarks in cancer. In this review, we summarize current knowledge on the functions of sirtuins mainly regarding DNA repair and energy metabolism, and further discuss the implication of sirtuins in cancer specifically by regulating genome integrity and cancer-related metabolism.
Keywords: Cancer; DNA damage; Metabolism; Post-translation modification; Sirtuin.