Unexpected pieces to the senescence puzzle

Although initially described as the end state of cells after extended rounds of division in culture, it is now clear that cellular senescence induced by different stimuli plays an important role in tumor suppression in vivo. Three recent studies in Cell report that secreted proteins play an important role in enforcing the senescence response (Acosta et al., 2008; Kuilman et al., 2008; Wajapeyee et al., 2008). These new studies identify unanticipated contributors to this tumor-suppressing cell state.