Abstract: Sirt3, a member of the sirtuin family of type Ⅲ histone deacetylases (HDACs) dependented on nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), was located in the mitochondrial matrix of mammalian cells. By deacetylating the most of mitochondrial proteins, sirt3 plays an important role in mitochondria. The deacetylation by sirt3 affects the quantity of reactive oxygen species (ROS), from transcription factors to metabolic enzymes, such as hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1), p53, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) and other factors; antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT), amino acid dehydrogenase (GDH), catalase and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) and other metabolic enzymes. Just based on above mechanism, sirt3 participates in the pathogenesis or pathophysiology of the decreased potential of embryonic development, premature ovarian failure, ovarian tumor and other reproductive diseases. This review summarizes the biological characteristics of sirt3, the molecular mechanism of sirt3 in regulating ROS, and the effect of sirt3 in the ROS-mediated reproductive diseases.

Key words: Sirt3, Reactive oxygen species, Female urogenital diseases