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REVIEW article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1400462

New insights into the role of cellular senescence and chronic wounds

Provisionally accepted
Bo Xue Bo Xue 1,2*Huiqing Yang Huiqing Yang 2
  • 1 Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
  • 2 Fang Zongxi Center for Marine EvoDevo, MoE Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Chronic or non-healing wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), venous leg ulcers (VLUs), pressure ulcers (PUs) and wounds in the elderly etc., impose significant biological, social, and financial burdens on patients and their families. Despite ongoing efforts, effective treatments for these wounds remain elusive, costing the United States over US$25 billion annually. The wound healing process is notably slower in the elderly, partly due to cellular senescence, which plays a complex role in wound repair. High glucose levels, reactive oxygen species, and persistent inflammation are key factors that induce cellular senescence, contributing to chronic wound failure. This suggests that cellular senescence may not only drive age-related phenotypes and pathology but also be a key mediator of the decreased capacity for trauma repair. This review analyzes four aspects: the wound healing phase and the cell types involved in wound healing; cellular senescence markers, cytotoxic stressors, and related signaling pathways; the relationship between cellular senescence and typical chronic non-healing wounds; and current and future treatment strategies. In theory, anti-aging therapy may influence the process of chronic wound healing. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not well understood. This review summarizes the relationship between cellular senescence and chronic wound healing to contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of chronic wound healing.

    Keywords: cellular senescence, chronic wounds, tissue repair, Wound microenvironment, Signal pathways

    Received: 13 Mar 2024; Accepted: 16 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xue and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bo Xue, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.