Cited by 391Telomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceGenomics and Chromatin DynamicsCancer-related Molecular Pathways

Interplay between oncogene-induced DNA damage response and heterochromatin in senescence and cancer

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Di Micco, Raffaella, Sulli, Gabriele, Dobreva, Miryana, Liontos, Michalis, Botrugno, Oronza A., Gargiulo, Gaetano, dal Zuffo, Roberto, Matti, Valentina +7 more·2011·Nature Cell Biology

Abstract

Two major mechanisms have been causally implicated in the establishment of cellular senescence: the activation of the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway and the formation of senescence-associated heterochromatic foci (SAHF). Here we show that in human fibroblasts resistant to premature p16(INK4a) induction, SAHF are preferentially formed following oncogene activation but are not detected during replicative cellular senescence or on exposure to a variety of senescence-inducing stimuli. Oncogene-induced SAHF formation depends on DNA replication and ATR (ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related). Inactivation of ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) or p53 allows the proliferation of oncogene-expressing cells that retain increased heterochromatin induction. In human cancers, levels of heterochromatin markers are higher than in normal tissues, and are independent of the proliferative index or stage of the tumours. Pharmacological and genetic perturbation of heterochromatin in oncogene-expressing cells increase DDR signalling and lead to apoptosis. In vivo, a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) causes heterochromatin relaxation, increased DDR, apoptosis and tumour regression. These results indicate that heterochromatin induced by oncogenic stress restrains DDR and suggest that the use of chromatin-modifying drugs in cancer therapies may benefit from the study of chromatin and DDR status of tumours.

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  • HDAC inhibitor treatment induces chromatin relaxation, boosts DNA damage response signalling and causes apoptosis; this is probably the first reported successful senolytic approach, later supported by panobinostat's senolytic activity.

    “treatment with histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, which induce chromatin relaxation, boosts DDR signalling with consequent cell death by apoptosis. This treatment is probably the first reported example of a successful senolytic approach52, which was later supported by the reported senolytic activity of the HDAC inhibitor panobinostat55”

    From Cellular senescence in ageing: from mechanisms to therapeutic opportunities (2021) · cites this paper as [52]

    The Results section ('Oncogene-induced heterochromatin restrains DDR signalling'; page unavailable) reports that HDAC inhibitors perturb heterochromatin, increase DDR signalling and induce apoptosis in oncogene-expressing cells. But the cells described as selectively eliminated were proliferating, and the paper does not establish this as a first successful senolytic approach that eliminates senescent cells. The later panobinostat finding is attached to a different citation in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Elevated H4K20me3 and H3K9me3 contribute to proliferation arrest in senescence.

    “Certain histone modifications are crucial for senescence, such as elevated H4K20me3 and H3K9me3, which contribute to the proliferation arrest (Cheng et al., 2017; Di Micco et al., 2011; Salama et al., 2014), whereas elevated H3K27ac at gene enhancers promotes a SASP (Hernandez-Segura et al., 2018).”

    From Cellular Senescence: Defining a Path Forward (2019) · cites this paper as Di Micco et al., 2011

    The Results section on proliferating oncogene-expressing cells reports that H3K9me3 accumulates at repressed proliferation-gene promoters during oncogene-induced senescence, supporting that part of the claim. Our copy does not report elevated H4K20me3 or establish that these two modifications together cause proliferation arrest across senescence generally. No page number is available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Senescence-associated heterochromatin foci enforce a DNA damage response-resistant heterochromatin structure that restrains DDR signalling.

    “Rather, SAHF enforce a DDR-resistant heterochromatin structure that restrains DDR signalling52”

    From Cellular senescence in ageing: from mechanisms to therapeutic opportunities (2021) · cites this paper as [52]

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Senescence-associated heterochromatin foci are not universal senescence markers; they are most robustly seen after oncogene activation and form in a DNA replication- and ATR-dependent manner.

    “SAHF are not universal markers of senescence; they are most robustly observed upon oncogene activation and form in a DNA replication- and ATR-dependent manner52”
  • SAHFs seem to be cell type and stimulus dependent, as they are not seen in all senescent cells.

    “Notably, SAHFs seem to be cell type andstimulus dependent, as they are not seen in all senescent cells (Di Micco et al., 2011; Kennedy et al., 2010; Sharpless and Sherr, 2015), rendering them useful for senescence identification, while the functional significance remains to be elucidated.”

    From Cellular Senescence: Defining a Path Forward (2019) · cites this paper as Di Micco et al., 2011

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Authors
Di Micco, R., Sulli, G., Dobreva, M., Liontos, M., Botrugno, O. A., Gargiulo, G., dal Zuffo, R., Matti, V., d'Ario, G., Montani, E., Mercurio, C., Hahn, W. C., Gorgoulis, V., Minucci, S., & d'Adda di Fagagna, F.
Affiliations
  • IFOM (IT)
  • National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
  • European Institute of Oncology (IT)
  • The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NL)
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
  • University of Milan (IT)
Venue
Nature Cell Biology
Published
2011-02-20
Volume
13
Issue
3
Pages
292-302
ISSN
  • 1465-7392 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4679
OpenAlex
W2025772032
Cited by
382
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 39
FWCI
26.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Aging (R01AG023145)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer-related Molecular Pathways
Keywords
oncogene-induced senescence, DNA damage response, heterochromatin, ATR, ATM, p53, p16INK4a, DNA replication, apoptosis, histone deacetylase inhibitors, tumor regression, fibroblasts, cancer therapy
MeSH terms
Animals, Chromatin, DNA Damage, DNA Replication, Heterochromatin, Humans, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Neoplasm Transplantation, Neoplasms, Oncogenes, Plasmids, Cellular Senescence, Apoptosis, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16, RNA, Small Interfering, Cell Line, Tumor, Mice, Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors

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