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Cellular senescence can be initiated by a wide variety of stress inducing factors. These stress factors include both environmental and internal damaging events, abnormal cellular growth, oxidative stress, autophagy factors, among many other things. [8]
Senescence (/ s ɪ ˈ n ɛ s ə n s /) or biological aging is the gradual deterioration of functional characteristics in living organisms. Whole organism senescence involves an increase in death rates or a decrease in fecundity with increasing age, at least in the later part of an organism's life cycle.
In biogerontology, the disposable soma theory of aging states that organisms age due to an evolutionary trade-off between growth, reproduction, and DNA repair maintenance. [1] Formulated by British biologist Thomas Kirkwood , the disposable soma theory explains that an organism only has a limited amount of resources that it can allocate to its ...
The SASP in senescent neurons can vary according to cell type, the initiator of senescence, and the stage of senescence. [12] An online SASP Atlas serves as a guide to the various types of SASP. [8] SASP is one of the three main features of senescent cells, the other two features being arrested cell growth, and resistance to apoptosis. [13]
In higher organisms, aging is likely to be regulated in part through the insulin/IGF-1 pathway. Mutations that affect insulin-like signaling in worms, flies, and the growth hormone/IGF1 axis in mice are associated with extended lifespan. In yeast, Sir2 activity is regulated by the nicotinamidase PNC1.
Williams noted that senescence may be causing many deaths even if animals are not 'dying of old age.' [1] He began his hypothesis with the idea that ageing can cause earlier senescence due to the competitive nature of life. Even a small amount of ageing can be fatal; hence natural selection does indeed care and ageing is not cost-free. [17]
Senescence can be induced by several factors, including telomere shortening, [37] DNA damage [38] and stress. Since the immune system is programmed to seek out and eliminate senescent cells, [39] it might be that senescence is one way for the body to rid itself of cells damaged beyond repair. The links between cell senescence and aging are several:
The reproductive-cell cycle theory posits that the hormones that regulate reproduction act in an antagonistic pleiotrophic manner to control aging via cell cycle signaling; promoting growth and development early in life in order to achieve reproduction, but later in life, in a futile attempt to maintain reproduction, become dysregulated and drive senescence. [1]