衰老是身体的一种慢性而自然的生理衰退。在整个生命过程中，人类不断暴露于各种外源性和内源性压力，对此它们在细胞、组织、器官以及有机体水平上会产生各种对抗性反应。由于遗传因素或者长期压力（甚至是压力反应）引起的细胞和组织功能受损可能会加速衰老。在过去的二十年里，赖氨酰基脱乙酰酶家族（SIRT）已经成为各种生物长寿的关键调节因子。SIRT7作为SIRT家族中最近被识别的成员，通过维持生理稳态并作为基因组完整性的看守、动态压力感知器和调节因子，提供保护以反对衰老。SIRT7的下降会破坏代谢稳定性，加速衰老并增加心血管和神经退行性疾病、肺部和肾脏疾病、炎症性疾病以及癌症等衰老相关病症的风险。在这里，我们介绍SIRT7作为解开衰老之谜的第七把钥匙，并且特定的调控潜力为确保健康和长寿带来了巨大的可能。

Aging is a chronic yet natural physiological decline of the body. Throughout the life, humans are continuously exposed to a variety of exogenous and endogenous stresses, to which they engender various counteractive responses at the cellular, tissue, organ, as well as organismal levels. The compromised cellular and tissue functions, which occur due to genetic factors or prolonged stress (or even the stress response), may accelerate aging. Over the last two decades, the sirtuin (SIRT) family of lysine deacylases has emerged as a key regulator of longevity in a variety of organisms. SIRT7, the most recently identified member of SIRTs, maintains physiological homeostasis and provides protection against aging by functioning as a watchdog of genomic integrity, a dynamic sensor and modulator of stresses. SIRT7 decline disrupts metabolic homeostasis, accelerates aging and increases the risk of age-related pathologies including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, pulmonary and renal disorders, inflammatory diseases, and cancer etc. Here, we present SIRT7 as the seventh key to unlock the mystery of aging and its specific manipulation holds great potential to ensure healthiness and longevity.