Investigating senescence in cellular plasticity and tissue regeneration

Cellular senescence has mainly been associated with tumor suppression and aging, mediated through cell intrinsic cell-cycle inhibition and arrest. However, through secretion of specific proteins, termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), senescent cells can have paradoxical effect...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Ritschka, Birgit
Format: doctoral thesis
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2017
Country:España
Institution:CBUC, CESCA
Repository:TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red
OAI Identifier:oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/481989
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10803/481989
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Senescence
Plasticity
Stem cells
Papilloma
SASP
Senescencia
Plasticidad celular
Célula madre
Papiloma
576
Description
Summary:Cellular senescence has mainly been associated with tumor suppression and aging, mediated through cell intrinsic cell-cycle inhibition and arrest. However, through secretion of specific proteins, termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), senescent cells can have paradoxical effects, promoting proliferation, invasion or paracrine senescence in neighbouring cells. Additionally, emerging studies showed that cellular senescence is also implicated in complex biological processes such as embryonic development, tissue repair and wound healing. Unexpectedly, we found that primary mouse keratinocytes undergoing oncogene-induced senescence exhibit an increase in stem cell gene expression. Interestingly, this signature can also be induced in normal cells upon transient exposure to the SASP. However, prolonged exposure to the SASP leads to paracrine senescence in vitro as a possible mechanism to counteract the aberrant regenerative stimulation. Together this work suggests that the SASP is a regenerative mechanism that instructs stemness and plasticity, but if left unperturbed can have detrimental effects seen during aging and tumor formation.