BCL-2 and related proteins are major regulators of apoptosis that have emerged as promising targets for the elimination senescent cells (or ‘senolysis’) to improve age-related diseases and promote healthy ageing. However, seminal observations and recent findings shed light on non-apoptotic roles of BCL-2 proteins in the regulation of cellular senescence.
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Acknowledgements
We thank B. Manship for editing the article. We sincerely apologize to the many authors whom we could not cite due to space limitations. Our work was supported by the Fondation ARC, the Ligue contre le Cancer and the INCA.
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Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology thanks Ana García-Sáez and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Martin, N., Popgeorgiev, N., Ichim, G. et al. BCL-2 proteins in senescence: beyond a simple target for senolysis?. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-023-00594-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-023-00594-y