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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Techniques to Induce and Quantify Cellular Senescence
Published on: May 1, 2017
Cellular senescence: at the nexus between ageing and diabetes
Allyson K Palmer1, Birgit Gustafson2, James L Kirkland3
1Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN, USA.
Abstract:
Ageing and diabetes lead to similar organ dysfunction that is driven by parallel molecular mechanisms, one of which is cellular senescence. The abundance of senescent cells in various tissues increases with age, obesity and diabetes. Senescent cells have been directly implicated in the generation of insulin resistance. Recently, drugs that preferentially target senescent cells, known as senolytics, have been described and recently entered clinical trials. In this review, we explore the biological links between ageing and diabetes, specifically focusing on cellular senescence. We summarise the current data on cellular senescence in key target tissues associated with the development and clinical phenotypes of type 2 diabetes and discuss the therapeutic potential of targeting cellular senescence in diabetes.
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