Jennifer Fisher Wilson | Nov 10, 2002 | 6 min read
Graphic: Courtesy of Shin-Ichiro Imai SILENCE OF THE CHROMATIN: The Sir2 protein requires NAD for its enzymatic activity. It couples NAD breakdown to nicotinamide and ADP-ribose with the removal of acetyl groups from histone and other proteins. The acetyl moiety is transferred to ADP-ribose, which creates the chemical acetyl-ADP ribose. Deacetylated nucleosome are packed up to silenced chromatin structure and involved in silencing gene transcription. This Sir2 enzymatic activity links ene