Figure 1.Major inducers of cellular senescence. Diverse intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli, including DNA damage, oncogene activation, telomere attrition, oxidative stress, mitochondrial impairment, cell-cell fusion, inflammatory signals, and developmental cues, initiate cellular senescence through distinct mechanisms. These stimuli converge on shared effector pathways, including persistent DNA damage response (DDR) signaling and activation of the p53/p21 and p16/Rb pathways, resulting in stable growth arrest and context-dependent SASP programs.
