Phenotype

DNA damage

Telomere

Ageing

Biology

Gene

Regeneration (biology)

Cellular senescence

Cell biology

Senescence

Genetics

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology

Cellular senescence, first described in vitro in 1961, has become a focus for biotech companies that target it to ameliorate a variety of human conditions. Eminently characterized by a permanent proliferation arrest, cellular senescence occurs in response to endogenous and exogenous stresses, including telomere dysfunction, oncogene activation and persistent DNA damage. Cellular senescence can also be a controlled programme occurring in diverse biological processes, including embryonic development. Senescent cell extrinsic activities, broadly related to the activation of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype, amplify the impact of cell-intrinsic proliferative arrest and contribute to impaired tissue regeneration, chronic age-associated diseases and organismal ageing. This Review discusses the mechanisms and modulators of cellular senescence establishment and induction of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype, and provides an overview of cellular senescence as an emerging opportunity to intervene through senolytic and senomorphic therapies in ageing and ageing-associated diseases. Cellular senescence is characterized by a permanent proliferation arrest and the establishment of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype. This Review discusses the mechanisms of cellular senescence and induction of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype, recent insights into how senescence contributes to ageing, and the potential of senolytic and senomorphic therapies in ageing and associated diseases.

Cellular senescence in ageing: from mechanisms to therapeutic opportunities