Still from video showing model of chromosome compaction (right) in aging cellsCRISCIONE ET AL, SCI. ADV. 2016; 2 : e1500882In cells undergoing senescence, chromosomes tend to become more compact, according to a report published today (February 5) in Science Advances. This and other chromatin rearrangements noted in the report add to a growing understanding of how the physical structure of chromosomes might contribute to altered gene expression in aging cells.
“This is the first study using this model of replicative senescence to define those higher-order three-dimensional chromatin changes,” said epigeneticist Peter Adams of the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Glasgow who was not involved in the work. “It’s something that people have waited for quite a long time to see.”
Although getting older causes our tissues to deteriorate and eventually fail, at a cellular level senescence is an important process for health. Cellular senescence marks the permanent, stable end to a cell’s replicating ability. “It basically puts an upper limit on the number of times that any one cell can divide,” explained Adams and, therefore, “it inherently tends to prevent cancer”—which occurs when cells proliferate uncontrollably. On the other hand, this lack of cell ...
