In memoriam Olivier Toussaint - Stress-induced premature senescence and the role of DNA damage

In the present paper, a concise review on the major contribution of our recently deceased colleague, Dr Olivier Toussaint, to the topic of stress-induced premature senescence (SIPS) of cells is presented together with a hypothesis on a mechanistic role of DNA damage, based on accumulating evidence for an important role of DNA damage as a driving factor in ageing.