Protein lysine acetylation in cellular function and its role in cancer manifestation

Lysine acetylation appears to be crucial for diverse biological phenomena, including all the DNA-templated processes, metabolism, cytoskeleton dynamics, cell signaling, and circadian rhythm. A growing number of cellular proteins have now been identified to be acetylated and constitute the complex cellular acetylome. Cross-talk among protein acetylation together with other post-translational modifications fine-tune the cellular functions of different protein machineries. Dysfunction of acetylation process is often associated with several diseases, especially cancer. This review focuses on the recent advances in the role of protein lysine acetylation in diverse cellular functions and its implications in cancer manifestation.

Research Highlights► Acetylation at lysine residue regulates the function of many proteins. ► Acetylation thus plays a role in regulation of various biological processes. ► These biological processes are necessary for the normal functioning of cells. ► Altered acetylation-deacetylation dynamics leads to disease state such as cancer and thus could be potential target for therapeutics.