Apoptotic cell death increases with senescence in normal human dermal fibroblast cultures

Normal human dermal fibroblasts have a limited life-span in vitro and stop proliferation after a fixed number of cell divisions. This process by which cells stop proliferation is called senescence. Senescence is also characterized by a decrease in the total cell number. In this study, we characterized an increase in cell death in normal human dermal fibroblasts in vitro as a function of increasing cell passage. With increasing passage, human fibroblasts showed an increase in the number of dead cells and increased DNA fragmentation as determined by flow cytometry. Serial passage of human fibroblasts also resulted in mitochondrial dysfunction, represented by a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. The apoptotic markers caspase-3 and cytochrome c were both found to increase in senescent cells. These results suggest the activation of an apoptotic pathway within a population of human fibroblasts as a function of cell passage.