Molecular Genetic Approaches to the Study of Cellular Senescence
- T.J. Goletz*,†,‡,
- J.R. Smith*,†,‡,§, and
- O.M. Pereira-Smith*,†,‡,§
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
Numerous positive and negative regulatory mechanisms function to maintain homeostasis; any alterations of these processes could have deleterious consequences at both the cellular and organismal levels. Changes in cellular proliferation can manifest as either loss of proliferation, as observed in age-related changes in the immune system, or as uncontrolled proliferation, as demonstrated by tumor formation. These are two of many ways in which alterations in normal regulatory processes participate in the development and progression of disease, as well as the normal aging process.
PHENOMENON OF CELLULAR SENESCENCE
It has been well established that normal human cells have a finite proliferative potential in vitro (Hayflick and Moorhead 1961). Cells that have reached the end of their in vitro life span and are unable to undergo further rounds of division are referred to as senescent. Cellular senescence is not a process of programmed cell death, since these cells remain viable in culture...
