Cellular senescence is a stress response program characterized by a robust cell cycle arrest and the induction of a proinflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) that is triggered through an unknown mechanism. Here, we show that, during oncogene-induced senescence (OIS), the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and its partner TLR10 are key mediators of senescence in vitro and in murine models. TLR2 promotes cell cycle arrest by regulating the tumor suppressors p53-p21CIP1, p16INK4a, and p15INK4b and regulates the SASP through the induction of the acute-phase serum amyloids A1 and A2 (A-SAAs) that, in turn, function as the damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) signaling through TLR2 in OIS. Last, we found evidence that the cGAS-STING cytosolic DNA sensing pathway primes TLR2 and A-SAAs expression in OIS. In summary, we report that innate immune sensing of senescence-associated DAMPs by TLR2 controls the SASP and reinforces the cell cycle arrest program in OIS.

During oncogene-induced senescence (OIS), heterochromatin is lost from the nuclear periphery and forms internal senescence-associated heterochromatin foci (SAHFs). We show that an increased nuclear pore density during OIS is responsible for SAHF formation. In particular, the nucleoporin TPR is necessary for both formation and maintenance of SAHFs. Loss of SAHFs does not affect cell cycle arrest but abrogates the senescence-associated secretory phenotype—a program of inflammatory cytokine gene activation. Our results uncover a previously unknown role of nuclear pores in heterochromatin reorganization in mammalian nuclei and demonstrate the importance of heterochromatin organization for a specific gene activation program.

Src-family kinase (SFK) signaling impacts multiple tumor-related properties, particularly in the context of the brain tumor glioblastoma. Consequently, the pan-SFK inhibitor dasatinib has emerged as a therapeutic strategy, despite physiologic limitations to its effectiveness in the brain. We investigated the importance of individual SFKs (Src, Fyn, Yes, and Lyn) to glioma tumor biology by knocking down individual SFK expression both in culture (LN229, SF767, GBM8) and orthotopic xenograft (GBM8) contexts. We evaluated the effects of these knockdowns on tumor cell proliferation, migration, and motility-related signaling in culture, as well as overall survival in the orthotopic xenograft model. The four SFKs differed significantly in their importance to these properties. In culture, Src, Fyn, and Yes knockdown generally reduced growth and migration and altered motility-related phosphorylation patterns while Lyn knockdown did so to a lesser extent. However the details of these effects varied significantly depending on the cell line: in no case were conclusions about the role of a particular SFK applicable to all of the measures or all of the cell types examined. In the orthotopic xenograft model, mice implanted with non-target or Src or Fyn knockdown cells showed no differences in survival. In contrast, mice implanted with Yes knockdown cells had longer survival, associated with reduced tumor cell proliferation. Those implanted with Lyn knockdown cells had shorter survival, associated with higher overall tumor burden. Together, our results suggest that Yes signaling directly affects tumor cell biology in a pro-tumorigenic manner, while Lyn signaling affects interactions between tumor cells and the microenvironment in an anti-tumor manner. In the context of therapeutic targeting of SFKs, these results suggest that pan-SFK inhibitors may not produce the intended therapeutic benefit when Lyn is present.