In a new review article published in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, researchers have suggested adding cellular enlargement to the hallmarks of aging [1].
Different cell types are known to have different shapes and sizes, which are dictated by their functions. In humans, sperm cells (male gametes) and ova (female gametes) have the smallest and largest diameters, respectively. On the other hand, some neurons are the longest cells: their axons can be over a meter long.
Nevertheless, within a specific cell type, the size variation is negligible. It has been long observed that healthy cells tend to maintain their size and that size changes are characteristic of pathological conditions. Cancer cells are often smaller than normal cells, while senescence leads to cellular enlargement [2].
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