Senescence and its Effect on Aging and Dementia

The term senescence was first proposed by Hayflick and Moorhead in 1960. They defined it as an interchangeable term with aging, which is an additional response by proliferating cells that adopt permanent arrest of cell cycles. Cellular senescence is considered a hallmark of aging termed ‘antagonistic pleiotropy’ that describes the deterioration causing tissue dysfunction in brain cells. Mainly senescent cell inhibits the growth of DNA in the G1 phase. Since aging is the main risk factor for causing neurodegenerative diseases, senescence plays a crucial role in causing Alzheimer’s disease leading to dementia. Besides, senolytic therapies are in development to prevent neuronal loss and restrict disease progression.