Feedback between p21 and reactive oxygen production is necessary for cell senescence

Cellular senescence--the permanent arrest of cycling in normally proliferating cells such as fibroblasts--contributes both to age-related loss of mammalian tissue homeostasis and acts as a tumour suppressor mechanism. The pathways leading to establishment of senescence are proving to be more complex than was previously envisaged. Combining in-silico interactome analysis and functional target gene inhibition, stochastic modelling and live cell microscopy, we show here that there exists a dynamic feedback loop that is triggered by a DNA damage response (DDR) and, which after a delay of several days, locks the cell into an actively maintained state of 'deep' cellular senescence. The essential feature of the loop…

• AR
  Alzheimer's Research Trust
• UD
  Universidade do Porto
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council