Senescence associated heterochromatic foci: SAHF

Abstract

The permanent cell cycle exit known as cellular senescence is a stress response that can be triggered by DNA damage, telomere erosion and activation of oncogenic signalling. Increasing evidence suggests that cellular senescence in cell culture mimics an in vivo situation, where a pathological cue (like the activation of an oncogene) triggers senescence as an intrinsic tumour suppressor defence. Oncogene induced senescence (OIS) is often accompanied by a global change in nuclear architecture, most dramatically exemplified by the formation of senescence associated heterochromatic foci (SAHF). Advances in imaging, chromatin profiling and mapping nuclear led to new insights into SAHF architecture, which will be summarised in this chapter.