Extracellular Vesicles – New Players in Cellular Senescence

Cell senescence is associated with the secretion of many factors, the so-called “senescence-associated secretory phenotype”, which may alter tissue microenvironment, stimulating the organism to clean up senescent cells and replace them with newly divided ones. Therefore, although no longer dividing, these cells are still metabolically active and influence the surrounding tissue. Much attention has been recently focused not only on soluble factors released by senescent cells, but also on extracellular vesicles as conveyors of senescence signals outside the cell. Researchers from the University of Perugia, Italy review the role of extracellular vesicles in biological processes and signaling pathways related to senescence and aging.