Home / Science / Protein SIRT7: Key to Sex Differences in Aging?
Protein SIRT7: Key to Sex Differences in Aging?
18 Jun
Summary
- SIRT7 protein maintains health of the X chromosome.
- Missing SIRT7 causes X chromosome imbalance in females.
- Females lacking SIRT7 show more DNA damage and shorter lives.
Research indicates that the protein SIRT7 could be central to understanding sex-based differences in how diseases progress and how bodies age. Scientists from Mass General Brigham and the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Institute have identified SIRT7's critical role in preserving the integrity of the X chromosome, a key determinant of biological sex.
Females, possessing two X chromosomes (XX), normally inactivate one to balance gene activity. However, experiments in mice revealed that a lack of SIRT7 disrupts this balance, causing the inactive X chromosome to become overly silenced while the active one becomes excessively expressed. This genetic imbalance in females, due to SIRT7 deficiency, was linked to greater DNA damage, poorer health outcomes, and reduced lifespans compared to males.
The findings provide a novel perspective on the biological underpinnings of sex differences in aging and disease susceptibility. By elucidating the regulation of the X chromosome through SIRT7, this study may pave the way for future treatments tailored to conditions that disproportionately affect one sex over the other. The research proposes that SIRT7's varied effects on sex chromosomes contribute to observed sex biases.
