%0 Journal Article
%T Senescence and tissue fibrosis: opportunities for therapeutic targeting.
%A O'Reilly S
%A Tsou PS
%A Varga J
%J Trends Mol Med
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Jun 17
%M 38890028
%F 15.272
%R 10.1016/j.molmed.2024.05.012
%X Cellular senescence is a key hallmark of aging. It has now emerged as a key mediator in normal tissue turnover and is associated with a variety of age-related diseases, including organ-specific fibrosis and systemic sclerosis (SSc). This review discusses the recent evidence of the role of senescence in tissue fibrosis, with an emphasis on SSc, a systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease. We discuss the physiological role of these cells, their role in fibrosis, and that targeting these cells specifically could be a new therapeutic avenue in fibrotic disease. We argue that targeting senescent cells, with senolytics or senomorphs, is a viable therapeutic target in fibrotic diseases which remain largely intractable.