Cellular senescence

Cel­lu­lar sene­s­cence is a sta­te in which cells per­ma­nent­ly stop divi­ding but do not die. It is trig­ge­red by fac­tors such as DNA dama­ge, shor­ten­ed telo­me­res or oxi­da­tive stress. In the short term, this mecha­nism pro­tects against uncon­trol­led cell growth.

Appli­ca­ti­on

With age, sene­s­cent cells accu­mu­la­te in many tis­sues, inclu­ding the skin. They release pro-inflamm­a­to­ry mes­sen­gers and enzy­mes that impair the sur­roun­ding tis­sue. In the der­mis, this main­ly affects fibro­blasts: they pro­du­ce less col­la­gen while col­la­gen-degra­ding enzy­mes increase. The result is thin­ner, less ela­s­tic skin and slower wound healing.

Good to know

Sene­s­cence is a cen­tral topic in age­ing rese­arch and clo­se­ly lin­ked to inflamm­a­ging. Sub­s­tances inten­ded to sel­ec­tively remo­ve sene­s­cent cells are known as sen­o­ly­tics. Their bene­fit and safe­ty in humans have not yet been ade­qua­te­ly established.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Skin lon­ge­vi­ty (pre­ven­ti­on)