Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2011 Oct;32(10):1199-207. doi: 10.1038/aps.2011.108. Epub 2011 Sep 12.
Cellular senescence is defined as the physiological program of terminal growth arrest, which can be triggered by various endogenous or exogenous stress signals. Cellular senescence can be induced in response to oncogenic activation and acts as a barrier to tumorigenesis. Moreover, tumor cells can undergo senescence when exposed to chemotherapeutic agents. In addition to suppressing tumorigenesis, senescent cells remain metabolically active and may contribute to tumor formation and to therapy resistance. In the current review, we discuss the molecular regulation of cellular senescence, the potential implications of senescence in human cancers, and the possibility of exploiting cellular senescence for the treatment of cancers.
细胞衰老被定义为一种终端生长停滞的生理程序，可被各种内源性或外源性应激信号触发。细胞衰老可响应致癌激活而被诱导，并作为肿瘤发生的障碍。此外，当肿瘤细胞暴露于化疗药物时，它们也可能会衰老。除了抑制肿瘤发生之外，衰老细胞仍然具有代谢活性，并可能有助于肿瘤形成和治疗耐药性。在当前的综述中，我们讨论了细胞衰老的分子调控、衰老在人类癌症中的潜在意义，以及利用细胞衰老治疗癌症的可能性。
