The deacetylase Sirt1 is an essential regulator of Aire-mediated induction of central immunological tolerance

Dysfunction of the deacetylase Sirt1 has been associated with certain metabolic diseases. Abramson and colleagues show that Sirt1 has high expression in the thymus, where it deacetylates the transcriptional regulator Aire and is essential for Aire's ability to switch on the expression of tissue-specific genes.