Cited by 459Telomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceGenomics and Chromatin DynamicsEpigenetics and DNA Methylation

Genomes of replicatively senescent cells undergo global epigenetic changes leading to gene silencing and activation of transposable elements

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De Cecco, Marco, Criscione, Steven W., Peckham, Edward J., Hillenmeyer, Sara, Hamm, Eliza A., Manivannan, Jayameenakshi, Peterson, Abigail L., Kreiling, Jill A. +2 more·2013·Aging Cell

Abstract

Summary: Replicative cellular senescence is an important tumor suppression mechanism and also contributes to aging. Progression of both cancer and aging include significant epigenetic components, but the chromatin changes that take place during cellular senescence are not known. We used formaldehyde assisted isolation of regulatory elements ( FAIRE ) to map genome‐wide chromatin conformations. In contrast to growing cells, whose genomes are rich with features of both open and closed chromatin, FAIRE profiles of senescent cells are significantly smoothened. This is due to FAIRE signal loss in promoters and enhancers of active genes, and FAIRE signal gain in heterochromatic gene‐poor regions. Chromatin of major retrotransposon classes, Alu, SVA and L1, becomes relatively more open in senescent cells, affecting most strongly the evolutionarily recent elements, and leads to an increase in their transcription and ultimately transposition. Constitutive heterochromatin in centromeric and peri‐centromeric regions also becomes relatively more open, and the transcription of satellite sequences increases. The peripheral heterochromatic compartment ( PHC ) becomes less prominent, and centromere structure becomes notably enlarged. These epigenetic changes progress slowly after the onset of senescence, with some, such as mobilization of retrotransposable elements becoming prominent only at late times. Many of these changes have also been noted in cancer cells.

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Crossref · 10.1111/acel.12047

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  • Oncogene-induced senescent cells and late replicatively senescent fibroblasts show increased nucleosomal chromatin accessibility, with most open regions mapping to regulatory elements and repeats.

    “oncogene-induced senescent cells and late replicatively senescent fibroblasts exhibit a marked increase in chromatin accessibility at the nucleosomal level, with most of the open chromatin regions mapping to regulatory elements and repeats66,67”

    From Cellular senescence in ageing: from mechanisms to therapeutic opportunities (2021) · cites this paper as [67]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) describes relatively more open chromatin at repeats and other gene-poor regions in replicatively senescent cells, with changes most evident after prolonged senescence. It also describes reduced accessibility at active regulatory regions. This paper does not establish the claim for oncogene-induced senescence or show that most open regions map to regulatory elements and repeats. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Senescent cells exhibit a global increase in chromatin accessibility, but the genome-wide profile varies depending on the stimulus.

    “Senescent cells also exhibit a global increase in chromatin accessibility, but the genome-wide profile varies depending on the stimulus (De Cecco et al., 2013).”

    From Cellular Senescence: Defining a Path Forward (2019) · cites this paper as De Cecco et al., 2013

    The Abstract and Discussion report genome-wide changes in chromatin accessibility during replicative senescence, including opening in gene-poor regions. They also report closing in gene-rich regions, so they do not establish a global increase in accessibility. The cited passages do not compare senescence-inducing stimuli or show that the genome-wide profile varies by stimulus. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Normally repressed LINE-1 retrotransposons are activated in senescence, stimulating the cGAS-STING pathway that elicits a type 1 interferon response.

    “The normally repressed LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposons are activated, stimulating the cGAS-STING pathway that elicits a type 1 interferon response (see Secretion) (De Cecco et al., 2013).”

    From Cellular Senescence: Defining a Path Forward (2019) · cites this paper as De Cecco et al., 2013

    The Results (page unavailable) report that L1 RNA expression increased in senescent cells, and the Discussion describes retrotransposons as normally repressed. The paper does not address cGAS-STING stimulation or a type I interferon response, so it supports only the L1-activation part of the sentence. (LLM, conf=0.91)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Retrotransposons become reactivated in cell senescence and with age in both mammals and Drosophila.

    “Retrotransposons become reactivated in cell senescence and with age in both mammals and Drosophila58, 60, 66, 68.”

    From The role of retrotransposable elements in ageing and age-associated diseases (2021) · cites this paper as [66]

    The Results (page unavailable in our copy) report increased Alu and L1 RNA expression in senescent human cells. The Discussion also notes L1 activation in aging brain tissue, but our copy does not report retrotransposon reactivation with age or senescence in Drosophila; a search for Drosophila found no such passage. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Loss of lamin-associated domains has been primarily investigated via electron microscopy techniques.

    “The ability of STORM to provide a detailed rendering of the structure of chromatin fibers37 makes it ideal to investigate changes in heterochromatin distribution within senescent nuclei, such as the loss of lamin-associated domains38, which has been primarily investigated via electron microscopy techniques39.”

    From Spatial mapping of cellular senescence: emerging challenges and opportunities (2023) · cites this paper as [39]

    The Results (page not provided) report using electron microscopy to find reduced staining of peripheral heterochromatin in senescent nuclei. The paper does not establish that lamin-associated domains themselves were lost or that their loss has primarily been investigated by electron microscopy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
De Cecco, M., Criscione, S. W., Peckham, E. J., Hillenmeyer, S., Hamm, E. A., Manivannan, J., Peterson, A. L., Kreiling, J. A., Neretti, N., & Sedivy, J. M.
Affiliations
  • Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry, Center for Genomics and Proteomics Brown University Providence 02912 RI USA
  • Brown University (US)
Corresponding author
  • Neretti, Nicola
  • Sedivy, John M.
Venue
Aging Cell
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2013-01-30
Volume
12
Issue
2
Pages
247-256
ISSN
  • 1474-9718 (ISSN-L)
  • 1474-9726
OpenAlex
W2065557328
Cited by
459
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 12
FWCI
20.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Aging Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Aging (K25AG028753, R37AG016694, K01AG039410)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P30GM103410, P30 GM0103410, T32GM007601)
  • National Center for Research Resources (P20RR015578)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Telomeres, Telomerase, and Senescence
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
Keywords
epigenetic modifications, chromatin conformation, FAIRE, transposable elements, Alu elements, SVA elements, heterochromatin, centromere, satellite DNA, gene silencing, tumor suppression, aging
MeSH terms
Cells, Cultured, Centromere, DNA Transposable Elements, Fibroblasts, Formaldehyde, Heterochromatin, Humans, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Expression, Genome, Human, Cellular Senescence, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Gene Silencing, Euchromatin, Epigenesis, Genetic, Regulatory Elements, Transcriptional

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