Biological Pathway
Cellular Senescence
Last updated
The state a cell enters when it stops dividing permanently but does not die. Senescent cells accumulate with age and after damage, and many secrete a mixture of inflammatory signals, proteases and growth factors known as the SASP, which alters the tissue around them. Senescence is protective in the short term, being one way damaged cells are stopped from becoming tumours, and a burden when the cells persist.
Why it matters here
This is the pathway behind most longevity claims on the site, and also where the evidence gap is widest, because the striking clearance results were obtained in mice.
What it is not
Senescent cells are not dead cells, dormant cells, or simply old cells, and clearing them is not the same as preventing them. Those mouse clearance results are animal_in_vivo findings: they establish nothing about human lifespan, and no dose crosses over.
Also called
- senescence
- cellular senescence
- sasp
- senescent cells
SASP abbreviates senescence-associated secretory phenotype, meaning the set of signals senescent cells release rather than the cells themselves.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.