Newman · The Journal of biological chemistry 2012 · narrative review · n=?

Mitochondrial protein acylation and intermediary metabolism: regulation by sirtuins and implications for metabolic disease.

Cited 209 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review of biochemical mechanisms and preclinical findings without primary human data.

PubMed 23086951 · doi:10.1074/jbc.R112.404863 · record verified 2026-08-29

What was done

The authors reviewed published literature on mitochondrial sirtuins (SIRT3, SIRT4, and SIRT5) and their roles as NAD(+)-dependent metabolic sensors that regulate intermediary metabolism through protein deacylation.

What was found

No quantitative clinical values are reported in the abstract. SIRT3 expression is selectively activated during fasting and calorie restriction, deacetylating and regulating enzymes including acetyl-CoA synthetase, long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase 2 to enhance fat metabolism. SIRT5 exhibits demalonylase and desuccinylase activity on abundant mitochondrial lysine modifications, while no convincing enzymatic activity was identified for SIRT4.

Why it matters

It synthesizes the mechanistic role of mitochondrial sirtuins in metabolic adaptation to fasting, highlighting post-translational acylation as a regulator of energy homeostasis and metabolic disease pathways.

Limits

This is a non-systematic narrative review summarizing bench and animal biochemistry. No original human clinical trial data, sample sizes, or quantitative outcome measures are reported.

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