Fig. 8.

Schematic illustrates a proposed mechanism of IL-13-induced cellular senescence in salivary epithelial cells. The binding of IL-13 to its functional receptor, the IL-13Rα1/IL-4Rα heterodimer, leads to the phosphorylation of STAT6. The p-STAT6 monomers homodimerize and translocate to the nucleus and bind to CBP, which results in a decreased interaction between CREB and CBP and a decreased transcriptional activity of p-CREB. This would then cause the accumulation of mtROS by decreasing mRNA and protein expression of SOD2, thereby promoting mitochondrial dysfunction to induce cellular senescence