Research

Hormonal

Nutrient deprivation (fasting or calorie restriction) increases SIRT6 protein levels in specific tissues (brain, kidney, heart, adipose) by stabilizing the protein via reduced proteasomal degradation, rather than by increasing transcription.

Fasting and calorie restriction do more than just burn calories; they actively stabilize specific proteins like SIRT6 in key organs (brain, heart, fat). This stabilization is a biological response to nutrient scarcity, potentially contributing to the health benefits associated with fasting, such as improved metabolic function and genome stability.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
We show here that levels of the mammalian sirtuin, SIRT6, increased upon nutrient deprivation in cultured cells, in mice after fasting, and in rats fed a calorie-restricted diet. The increase in SIRT6 levels is due to stabilization of SIRT6 protein, and not via an increase in SIRT6 transcription.
Yariv Kanfi et al. · FEBS Letters · 2008

Why this rating

High-quality in vitro and in vivo rodent data with clear mechanistic dissection (inhibitors, p53 knockout), but lacks human clinical trials.

Source

Regulation of SIRT6 protein levels by nutrient availability

Yariv Kanfi et al. · FEBS Letters · 2008

DOI 10.1016/j.febslet.2008.01.019

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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