Biology subjects

Ovadya, Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Ovadya, Y..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Cell surface ATP6V1B2 marks a subset of persistent senescent cells with increased resistance to apoptosis

Accumulation of senescent cells promotes ageing and age-related diseases. While senescent cells are heterogenous and increasingly persistent in vivo with age, the mechanisms underlying their heterogeneity, resistance to apoptosis, and tissue accumulation remain insufficiently understood. Here we report that in response to DNA damage, a subset of senescent cells upregulates the v-type ATPase subunit, ATP6V1B2 (V1B2) on the cell surface. This upregulation is associated with altered lysosomal activity and changes in intracellular pH. Heterogeneity of senescent cells marked by cell surface V1B2 (csV1B2) is present in naturally occurring senescent cells within both ageing and fibrotic lungs. Senescent cells expressing csV1B2 show an age-independent transcriptional signature associated with DNA repair and resistance to apoptosis. Consistent with this, we show that csV1B2 expression correlates with senescent cell resistance to ABT-737-induced apoptosis in culture. Our study identifies a subset of senescent cells, marked by csV1B2, with a distinct signature of apoptosis resistance. Understanding the functional heterogeneity of senescent cells and the mechanisms accountable for persistence of specific subpopulations in tissues may facilitate the development of improved senotherapeutic strategies for age-related diseases.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Reduced nuclear lamin A/C enhances cancer cell squeezing through rigid barriers, does not facilitate endothelial crossing, and impairs experimental metastasis

The mechanisms by which the nuclear lamina of tumor cells controls their migration and survival are poorly understood. Lamin A and its variant lamin C are key nuclear lamina proteins that control nucleus stiffness and chromatin conformation. Downregulation of lamin A/C levels in two metastatic lines, B16F10 melanoma and E0771 breast carcinoma, facilitated cell squeezing through rigid pores, elevated nuclear deformability and reduced heterochromatin. Unexpectedly, the transendothelial migration of both cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, through lung capillaries, was not elevated by lamin A/C knockdown. Both cancer cells with lamin A/C knockdown grew normally in primary tumors and in vitro on rigid surfaces. Strikingly, however, both lamin A/C deficient melanoma and breast cancer cells grew poorly in 3D spheroids expanded in soft agar cultures. Experimental lung metastasis of both lamin A/C knockdown cells was also markedly reduced. Taken together, our results suggest that high content of lamin A/C in multiple cancer cells promotes cancer cell survival and ability to generate lung metastasis without compromising cancer cell emigration from lung vessels.

cancer biology↗