The Clearance Effect of Tetrahedral DNA Nanostructures on Senescent Human Dermal Fibroblasts.

Senescent cells are characterized by their resistance to apoptosis, and upon their long-term survival, senescent cells affect tissue function and eventually become deleterious to the organism. Thus far, it has been gradually accepted that clearance these senescent cells could reduce tissue dysfunction. This study aimed to investigate biological effects of tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) on senescent cells. And the results revealed a different biological effect of TDNs, their clearance effect, on senescent cells. TDNs can induce phenotypic changes in senescent cells, suppressing antiapoptotic BCL-2 family proteins and upregulating BAX, a BCL-2 family proapoptotic protein, to influence the expression levels and function of downstream proteins. Consequently, cytochrome C releasing promoted cleavage-mediated activation of pro-caspase-3 and its nuclear translocation from the cytoplasm to mediate apoptosis. The present results provide a foundation for further studies on the application of TDNs in studies on aging.