Buck Institute for Age Research, 8001 Redwood Blvd, Novato, CA 94945, USA.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2011 Feb;21(1):107-12. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2010.10.005. Epub 2010 Nov 17.
Cellular senescence arrests the proliferation of potential cancer cells, and so is a potent tumor suppressive mechanism, akin to apoptosis. Or is it? Why did cells evolve an anti-cancer mechanism that arrests, rather than kills, would-be tumor cells? Recent discoveries that senescent cells secrete growth factors, proteases and cytokines provide a shifting view--from senescence as a cell autonomous suppressor of tumorigenesis to senescence as a means to mobilize the systemic and local tissue milieu for repair. In some instances, this mobilization benefits the organism, but in others it can be detrimental. These discoveries provide potential mechanisms by which cellular senescence might contribute to the diverse, and seemingly incongruent, processes of tumor suppression, tumor promotion, tissue repair, and aging.
细胞衰老可以阻止潜在癌细胞的增殖，因此是一种强大的肿瘤抑制机制，类似于细胞凋亡。真的是这样吗？为什么细胞会进化出一种阻止而非杀死潜在肿瘤细胞的抗癌机制呢？最近的发现表明，衰老细胞会分泌生长因子、蛋白酶和细胞因子，这为我们提供了一个新的视角——从衰老作为细胞自主抑制肿瘤发生的机制转变为衰老作为动员全身和局部组织微环境进行修复的手段。在某些情况下，这种动员对生物体有益，但在其他情况下则可能有害。这些发现为细胞衰老如何有助于肿瘤抑制、肿瘤促进、组织修复和衰老等不同且看似不一致的过程提供了潜在的机制。
