Remodeling of chromatin structure in senescent cells and its potential impact on tumor suppression and aging

摘要

Cellular senescence is an important tumor suppression process, and a possible contributor to tissue aging. Senescence is accompanied extensive changes in chromatin structure. In particular, many senescent cells accumulate specialized domains of facultative heterochromatin, called Senescence Associated Heterochromatin Foci (SAHF), which are thought to repress expression of proliferation-promoting genes, thereby contributing to senescence-associated proliferation arrest. This article reviews our current understanding of the structure, assembly and function of these SAHF at a cellular level. The possible contribution of SAHF to tumor suppression and tissue aging is also critically discussed.