Cellular senescence plays an important role in human health. During senescence, certain cells stop dividing and produce chemicals that affect neighboring cells. Senescent cells accumulate as we age and there is promise in using senotherapeutics, or drugs that target cellular senescence, to treat diseases of aging. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how to identify senescent cells in the body and how to describe differences in senescent cells across tissues. Because no single lab is capable of the comprehensive approach needed to fully characterize these cells, the NIH Common Fund’s Cellular Senescence Network (SenNet) consortium was assembled with expertise across multiple tissues and technologies.

In a marker paper, members of the SenNet consortium and NIH working group lay out their plan for characterizing and providing an atlas of senescent cells in humans and mice. Several other deliverables were discussed, including novel tools, technologies, and data sets, validated biomarkers, a clear and comprehensive definition of senescent cells in various tissues, and collaborative efforts with other existing cell mapping programs to enable data integration and knowledge sharing. The planned technologies, methods, and data formats are also discussed to make the biomedical research community aware of what SenNet plans to make available in the future. To keep up-to-date on the consortium’s progress, visit their website at sennetconsortium.org.

Reference

• NIH SenNet Consortium to map senescent cells throughout the human lifespan to understand physiological health. SenNet Consortium. Nature Aging. 2022 Dec 20. doi:10.1038/s43587-022-00326-5.