Four different classes of HDACs have been identified in humans so far. Classes I, II and IV are zinc-dependent amidohydrolases, while III is a family of phylogenetically conserved NAD-dependent protein deacetylases/ADP-ribosyltransferase with a well-defined role in modifying chromatin conformation and altering the accessibility of the damaged sites of DNA for repair enzymes. Sirtuins are histone deacetylases (HDACs) of class III that cleave off acetyl groups from acetyl-lysine residues in histones and non-histone proteins. As sirtuins are involved in many physiological and pathological processes, their activity has been associated with different human diseases, including cancer. Especially two sirtuin members, SIRT1 and SIRT2, have been found to antagonize p53-dependent transcriptional activation and apoptosis in response to DNA damage by catalyzing p53 deacetylation. The findings that SIRT1 levels are increased in a number of tumors highlight the oncogenic role of sirtuins, in particular, in the down-modulation of p53 oncosuppressor activity. Along this lane, cancers carrying wild-type (wt) p53 protein are known to deregulate its activity by other mechanisms. Therefore, inhibition of SIRT1 and SIRT2, aimed at restoring wt-p53 transcriptional activity in tumors that retain the ability to express normal p53, might represent a valid therapeutic cancer approach specially when combined with standard therapies. This review will be focused on sirtuin inhibitors, with a specific attention on inhibitors of SIRT1 and SIRT2. Among them, nicotinamide and its analogs, sirtinol, A3 and M15, splitomicin, HR73 and derivatives, cambinol and derivatives, EX 527, kinase inhibitors, suramin, 4-dihydropyridine derivatives, tenovins, TRIPOS 360702, AC 93253, 3-arylideneindolinones, CSC8 and CSC13 will also be described.

Splitomicin is derived from beta-naphthol and is an inhibitor of Silent Information Regulator 2 (SIR2). Its naphthoic moiety might be responsible for its inhibitory effects on platelets. The major goal of our study was to examine possible mechanisms of action of splitomicin on platelet aggregation in order to promote development of a novel anti-platelet aggregation therapy for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. To study the inhibitory effects of splitomicin on platelet aggregation, we used washed human platelets, and monitored platelet aggregation and ATP release induced by thrombin (0.1 U/ml), collagen (2 microg/ml), arachidonic acid (AA) (0.5 mM), U46619 (2 microM) or ADP (10 microM). Splitomicin inhibited platelet aggregation induced by thrombin, collagen, AA and U46619 with a concentration dependent manner. Splitomicin increased cAMP and this effect was enhanced when splitomicin (150 microM) was combined with PGE1 (0.5 microM). It did not further increase cAMP when combined with IBMX. This data indicated that splitomicin increases cAMP by inhibiting activity of phosphodiestease. In addition, splitomicin (300 microM) attenuated intracellular Ca(++) mobilization, and production of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) in platelets that was induced by thrombin, collagen, AA or U46619. The inhibitory mechanism of splitomicin on platelet aggregation may increase cyclic AMP levels via inhibition of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity and subsequent inhibition of intracellular Ca(++) mobilization, TXB2 formation and ATP release.

Expansion of the CGG.CCG-repeat tract in the 5' UTR of the FMR1 gene to textgreater200 repeats leads to heterochromatinization of the promoter and gene silencing. This results in Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common heritable form of mental retardation. The mechanism of gene silencing is unknown. We report here that a Class III histone deacetylase, SIRT1, plays an important role in this silencing process and show that the inhibition of this enzyme produces significant gene reactivation. This contrasts with the much smaller effect of inhibitors like trichostatin A (TSA) that inhibit Class I, II and IV histone deacetylases. Reactivation of silenced FMR1 alleles was accompanied by an increase in histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation as well as an increase in the amount of histone H4 that is acetylated at lysine 16 (H4K16) by the histone acetyltransferase, hMOF. DNA methylation, on the other hand, is unaffected. We also demonstrate that deacetylation of H4K16 is a key downstream consequence of DNA methylation. However, since DNA methylation inhibitors require DNA replication in order to be effective, SIRT1 inhibitors may be more useful for FMR1 gene reactivation in post-mitotic cells like neurons where the effect of the gene silencing is most obvious.

Splitomicin (1) and 41 analogues were prepared and evaluated in cell-based Sir2 inhibition and toxicity assays and an in vitro Sir2 inhibition assay. Lactone ring or naphthalene (positions 7-9) substituents decrease activity, but other naphthalene substitutions (positions 5 and 6) are well-tolerated. The hydrolytically unstable aromatic lactone is important for activity. Lactone hydrolysis rates were used as a measure of reactivity; hydrolysis rates correlate with inhibitory activity. The most potent Sir2 inhibitors were structurally similar to and had hydrolysis rates similar to 1.

Sir2 and Hst1 are NAD+-dependent deacetylases involved in transcriptional repression in yeast. The two enzymes are highly homologous yet have different sensitivity to the small-molecule inhibitor splitomicin (compound 1) (Bedalov, A., Gatbonton, T., Irvine, W. P., Gottschling, D. E., and Simon, J. A. (2001) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98, 15113-15118). We have now defined a critical amino acid residue within a small helical module of Hst1 that confers relative resistance to splitomicin. Parallel cell-based screens of 100 splitomicin analogues led to the identification of compounds that exhibit a higher degree of selectivity toward Sir2 or Hst1. A series of compounds based on a splitomicin derivative, dehydrosplitomicin (compound 2), effectively phenocopied a yeast strain that lacked Hst1 deacetylase while having no effect on the silencing activities of Sir2. In addition, we identified a compound with improved selectivity for Sir2. Selectivity was affirmed using whole-genome DNA microarray analysis. This study underscores the power of phenotypic screens in the development and characterization of selective inhibitors of enzyme functions.

Sir2p is an NAD(+)-dependent histone deacetylase required for chromatin-dependent silencing in yeast. In a cell-based screen for inhibitors of Sir2p, we identified a compound, splitomicin, that creates a conditional phenocopy of a sir2 deletion mutant in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cells grown in the presence of the drug have silencing defects at telomeres, silent mating-type loci, and the ribosomal DNA. In addition, whole genome microarray experiments show that splitomicin selectively inhibits Sir2p. In vitro, splitomicin inhibits NAD(+)-dependent histone deacetylase activity (HDA) of the Sir2 protein. Mutations in SIR2 that confer resistance to the drug map to the likely acetylated histone tail binding domain of the protein. By using splitomicin as a chemical genetic probe, we demonstrate that continuous HDA of Sir2p is required for maintaining a silenced state in nondividing cells.