Cellular senescence and cardiovascular diseases

Cellular senescence has been the subject of focused research for over two decades, however it was not until recently that the role of senescence in cardiovascular disease (CVD) started to be explored. A body of evidence has shown that cellular senescence constitutes a stress-mediated pathophysiological mechanism implicated in a wide range of CVDs at the cellular and molecular level. In this review, we recapitulate key molecular and clinical findings supporting the involvement of senescence in heart disease and discuss current clinical strategies aimed at eradicating the detrimental effects of senescence on cardiac homeostasis. Based on recent evidence, we additionally address how the advent of the senotherapeutics field, in conjunction with the development of novel senescence detection tools in tissues and biological fluids may now facilitate effectively combating CVDs.