• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2019

Cellular senescence, a permanent state of cell cycle arrest, is believed to have originally evolved to limit the proliferation of old or damaged cells. However, it has been recently shown that cellular senescence is a physiological and pathological program contributing to embryogenesis, immune response, and wound repair, as well as aging and age-related diseases. Unlike replicative senescence associated with telomere attrition, premature senescence rapidly occurs in response to various intrinsic and extrinsic insults. Thus, cellular senescence has also been considered suppressive mechanism of tumorigenesis. Current studies have revealed that therapy-induced senescence (TIS), a type of senescence caused by traditional cancer therapy, could play a critical role in cancer treatment. In this review, we outline the key features and the molecular pathways of cellular senescence. Better understanding of cellular senescence will provide insights into the development of powerful strategies to control cellular senescence for therapeutic benefit. Lastly, we discuss existing strategies for the induction of cancer cell senescence to improve efficacy of anticancer therapy.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.607-612
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• 2017

When mammalian cells and animals face a variety of internal or external stresses, they need to make homeostatic changes so as to cope with various stresses. To this end, mammalian cells are equipped with two critical stress responses, autophagy and cellular senescence. Autophagy and cellular senescence share a number of stimuli including telomere shortening, DNA damage, oncogenic stress and oxidative stress, suggesting their intimate relationship. Autophagy is originally thought to suppress cellular senescence by removing damaged macromolecules or organelles, yet recent studies also indicated that autophagy promotes cellular senescence by facilitating the synthesis of senescence-associated secretory proteins. These seemingly opposite roles of autophagy may reflect a complex picture of autophagic regulation on cellular senescence, including different types of autophagy or a unique spatiotemporal activation of autophagy. Thus, a better understanding of autophagy process will lead us to not only elucidate the conundrum how autophagy plays dual roles in the regulation of cellular senescence but also helps the development of new therapeutic strategies for many human diseases associated with cellular senescence. We address the pro-senescence and anti-senescence roles of autophagy while focusing on the potential mechanistic aspects of this complex relationship between autophagy and cellular senescence.

• BMB Reports
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• v.56 no.12
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• pp.651-656
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• 2023

Senescence, a cellular process through which damaged or dysfunctional cells suppress the cell cycle, contributes to aging or age-related functional decline. Cell metabolism has been closely correlated with aging processes, and it has been widely recognized that metabolic changes underlie the cellular alterations that occur with aging. Here, we report that fatty acid oxidation (FAO) serves as a critical regulator of cellular senescence and uncover the underlying mechanism by which FAO inhibition induces senescence. Pharmacological or genetic ablation of FAO results in a p53-dependent induction of cellular senescence in human fibroblasts, whereas enhancing FAO suppresses replicative senescence. We found that FAO inhibition promotes cellular senescence through acetyl-CoA, independent of energy depletion. Mechanistically, increased formation of autophagosomes following FAO inhibition leads to a reduction in SIRT1 protein levels, thereby contributing to senescence induction. Finally, we found that inhibition of autophagy or enforced expression of SIRT1 can rescue the induction of senescence as a result of FAO inhibition. Collectively, our study reveals a distinctive role for the FAO-autophagy-SIRT1 axis in the regulation of cellular senescence.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.231-236
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• 2001

How much do we know about the biology of aging from cell culture studies Most normal somatic cells have a finite potential to divide due to a process termed cellular or replicative senescence. A growing body evidence suggests that senescence evolved to protect higher eu-karyotes, particularly mammals, from developing cancer, We now know that telomere shortening due to the biochemistry of DNA replication, induces replicative senescence in human cells. How-ever in rodent cells, replicative senescence occurs despite very long telomeres. Recent findings suggest that replicative senescence is just the tip of the iceberg of a more general process termed cellular senescence. It appears that cellular senescence is a response to potentially oncogenic in-sults, including oxidative damage. In young orgainsms, growth arrest by cell senescence sup-presses tumor development, but later in life, due to the accumulation of senescent cells which se-cret factors that can disrupt tissues during aging, cellular senescence promotes tumorigenesis. Therefore, antagonistic pleiotropy may explain, if not in whole the apparently paradoxical effects of cellular senescence, though this still remains an open question.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.493-499
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• 2018

Cellular senescence is a state of permanent cell-cycle arrest triggered by different internal and external stimuli. This phenomenon is considered to be both beneficial and detrimental depending on the cell types and biological contexts. During normal embryonic development and after tissue injury, cellular senescence is critical for tissue remodeling. In addition, this process is useful for arresting growth of tumor cells, particularly during early onset of tumorigenesis. However, accumulation of senescent cells decreases tissue regenerative capabilities and induces inflammation, which is responsible for cancer and organismal aging. Therefore cellular senescence has to be tightly regulated, and dysregulation might lead to the aging and human diseases. Among many regulators of cellular senescence, in this review, I will focus on microRNAs, small non-coding RNAs playing critical roles in diverse biological events including cellular senescence.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.51-59
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• 2014

Cellular senescence is a physiological process of irreversible cell-cycle arrest that contributes to various physiological and pathological processes of aging. Whereas replicative senescence is associated with telomere attrition after repeated cell division, stress-induced premature senescence occurs in response to aberrant oncogenic signaling, oxidative stress, and DNA damage which is independent of telomere dysfunction. Recent evidence indicates that cellular senescence provides a barrier to tumorigenesis and is a determinant of the outcome of cancer treatment. However, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, which contributes to multiple facets of senescent cancer cells, may influence both cancer-inhibitory and cancer-promoting mechanisms of neighboring cells. Conventional treatments, such as chemo- and radiotherapies, preferentially induce premature senescence instead of apoptosis in the appropriate cellular context. In addition, treatment-induced premature senescence could compensate for resistance to apoptosis via alternative signaling pathways. Therefore, we believe that an intensive effort to understand cancer cell senescence could facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies for improving the efficacy of anticancer therapies. This review summarizes the current understanding of molecular mechanisms, functions, and clinical applications of cellular senescence for anticancer therapy.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.164-170
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• 2022

Background: When cells are damaged by nicotine, cellular senescence due to oxidative stress accelerates. In addition, stress-induced inflammatory response and cellular senescence cause the accumulation of damaged organelles in cells, and autophagy appears to remove them. Conversely, when autophagy is reduced, harmful cell components accumulate, and aging is accelerated. This study aimed to determine the association between nicotine-induced cellular senescence and autophagy expression patterns in human gingival fibroblasts. Methods: Cells were treated with various concentrations of nicotine (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 mM) and 10 nM rapamycin was added to 1 mM nicotine to investigate the relationship between autophagy and cellular senescence. Cell viability was confirmed using WST-8 and the degree of cellular senescence was measured by SA-β-gal staining. The expression of the inflammatory proteins (COX-2 and iNOS) and autophagy markers (LC3-II, p62, and Beclin-1) was analyzed by western blotting. Results: The cell viability tended to decrease in a concentration-dependent manner. COX-2 showed no concentration-dependent expression and iNOS increased in the 0.5 mM nicotine treated group. The degree of cellular senescence was the highest in the 1 mM nicotine treatment group. In the group treated with rapamycin and nicotine, the conversion ratio of LC3-II to LC3-I was the highest, that of p62 was the lowest, and the level of Beclin-1 proteins was significantly increased. Furthermore, the degree of cellular senescence was reduced in the group in which rapamycin was added to nicotine compared to that in the group treated with nicotine alone. Conclusion: This study provides evidence that autophagy activated in an aging environment reduces cellular senescence to a certain some extent.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.297-305
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• 2021

Luteolin, a sort of flavonoid, has been reported to be involved in neuroprotective function via suppression of neuroinflammation. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of luteolin against oxidative stress-induced cellular senescence and its molecular mechanism using hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced cellular senescence model in House Ear Institute-Organ of Corti 1 cells (HEI-OC1). Our results showed that luteolin attenuated senescent phenotypes including alterations of morphology, cell proliferation, senescence-associated 𝛽-galactosidase expression, DNA damage, as well as related molecules expression such as p53 and p21 in the oxidant challenged model. Interestingly, we found that luteolin induces expression of sirtuin 1 in dose- and time-dependent manners and it has protective role against H₂O₂-induced cellular senescence by upregulation of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). In contrast, the inhibitory effect of luteolin on cellular senescence under oxidative stress was abolished by silencing of SIRT1. This study indicates that luteolin effectively protects against oxidative stress-induced cellular senescence through p53 and SIRT1. These results suggest that luteolin possesses therapeutic potentials against age-related hearing loss that are induced by oxidative stress.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.957-963
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• 2016

Cellular senescence, a barrier to tumorigenesis, controls aberrant proliferation of cells. We here aimed to investigate cellular senescence in immortalized cholangiocyte and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines using five different inducing agents: 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine, bromodeoxyuridine, interferons ($IFN{\beta}$ and $IFN{\gamma}$), and hydrogen peroxide. We analyzed senescence characteristics, colony formation ability, expression of genes involved in cell cycling and interferon signaling pathways, and protein levels. Treatment with all five agents decreased cell proliferation and induced cellular senescence in immortalized cholangiocyte and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines with different degrees of growth-inhibitory effects depending on cell type and origin. Bromodeoxyuridine gave the strongest stimulus to inhibit growth and induce senescence in most cell lines tested. Expression of p21 and interferon related genes was upregulated in most conditions. The fact that bromodeoxyuridine had the strongest effects on growth inhibition and senescence induction implies that senescence in cholangiocarcinoma cells is likely controlled by DNA damage response pathways relating to the p53/p21 signaling. In addition, interferon signaling pathways may partly regulate this mechanism in cholangiocarcinoma cells.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.530-539
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• 2019

Brain aging is an inevitable process characterized by structural and functional changes and is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases. Most brain aging studies are focused on neurons and less on astrocytes which are the most abundant cells in the brain known to be in charge of various functions including the maintenance of brain physical formation, ion homeostasis, and secretion of various extracellular matrix proteins. Altered mitochondrial dynamics, defective mitophagy or mitochondrial damages are causative factors of mitochondrial dysfunction, which is linked to age-related disorders. Etoposide is an anti-cancer reagent which can induce DNA stress and cellular senescence of cancer cell lines. In this study, we investigated whether etoposide induces senescence and functional alterations in cultured rat astrocytes. Senescence-associated ${\beta}$-galactosidase (SA-${\beta}$-gal) activity was used as a cellular senescence marker. The results indicated that etoposide-treated astrocytes showed cellular senescence phenotypes including increased SA-${\beta}$-gal-positive cells number, increased nuclear size and increased senescence-associated secretory phenotypes (SASP) such as IL-6. We also observed a decreased expression of cell cycle markers, including PhosphoHistone H3/Histone H3 and CDK2, and dysregulation of cellular functions based on wound-healing, neuronal protection, and phagocytosis assays. Finally, mitochondrial dysfunction was noted through the determination of mitochondrial membrane potential using tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester (TMRM) and the measurement of mitochondrial oxygen consumption rate (OCR). These data suggest that etoposide can induce cellular senescence and mitochondrial dysfunction in astrocytes which may have implications in brain aging and neurodegenerative conditions.