Links Between Induced Pluripotency and Cellular Senescence

Cellular senescence is one of the causes of aging. Lingering senescent cells produce the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, a damaging mix of secreted molecules that generate inflammation and tissue dysfunction. However, senescence is also an early defense against cancerous cells, especially those that gain the embryonic-like ability to replicate without limit and spawn many different cell types. Such cells are near all shut down and destroyed by the senescence process, at least in the earlier stages of life. Further, cellular senescence is also involved in tissue repair in a different, transient way. Wounds spur the temporary creation of senescent cells, which appear important in the coordination of healing. Reprogramming normal cells into induced pluripotent stem cells is an important part of modern stem cell research, a basis for future regenerative therapies, and a potential way to produce arbitrary patient matched cell types to order. Yet it is in essence quite similar to the damage and mutation that produces rampaging cancer cells, freed from their restrictions. It also has more than a passing relation to the activities that take place during regeneration. Given this, we might not be too surprised to find links between cellular senescence and induced pluripotency. The paper here outlines some of these connections, and they are most interesting. This will probably have implications for a range of future efforts to control cellular activity in the body. For...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs