title: To SIR with Polycomb: linking silencing mechanisms.
abstract: Yeast SIR2, the most evolutionarily conserved deacetylase, plays an essential role in epigenetic silencing at the silent mating type loci and telomeres. SIR2 has been implicated in chromatin silencing and lifespan determination in several organisms. Discovery that Drosophila SIR2 is also involved in epigenetic silencing mediated by the Polycomb group proteins and is physically associated with a complex containing the E(Z) histone methyltransferase has wide implications. These findings suggest possible link of Polycomb system to diverse cellular processes including senescence.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad 500 007, India.
authors.forename: Vivek S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Chopra
authors.forename: Rakesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Mishra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D020868:Gene Silencing; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D049770:Genes, Mating Type, Fungal; D006655:Histone Deacetylases / Q000502:physiology*; D063150:Polycomb Repressive Complex 1; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D056565:Sirtuin 2; D037761:Sirtuins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C066770:Pc protein, Drosophila; D038281:Silent Information Regulator Proteins, Saccharomyces cerevisiae; D063150:Polycomb Repressive Complex 1; C087778:SIR2 protein, S cerevisiae; C447899:Sirt2 protein, Drosophila; D056565:Sirtuin 2; D037761:Sirtuins; D006655:Histone Deacetylases