Macrophage SIRT6 promotes allergic airway inflammation through ATG3 deacetylation-mediated autophagy

Abstract

Chronic airway inflammation is a central driver of asthma pathogenesis, in which macrophages play a pivotal role. While autophagy is known to regulate macrophage function, the specific molecular mechanisms linking autophagy to allergic airway inflammation remain unclear. Here, we identify macrophage sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) as a critical regulator of autophagy and allergic inflammation in asthma. SIRT6 expression was elevated in lung tissues and macrophages from asthmatic mice. Myeloid-specific Sirt6 deletion attenuated allergic airway inflammation in asthma murine model. Mechanistically, SIRT6 promoted proinflammatory cytokine expression via autophagy-related 3 (ATG3)-mediated autophagy in macrophages. We further demonstrated that SIRT6 directly bound to ATG3 and deacetylated it at lysine 77 (K77), a modification required for driving the proinflammatory response. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of SIRT6 with OSS_128167 suppressed macrophage autophagy and alleviated allergic inflammation. Our findings establish SIRT6 as a key promoter of allergic airway inflammation through ATG3 deacetylation and enhanced autophagy in macrophages, highlighting SIRT6 inhibition as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for asthma.