Our data showed that TB significantly induced senescent phenotype (SA-β-gal positive) of SK-Hep-1 cells with up-regulation of all the above senescent markers (P53, P16, P21, IL-6 and IL-8) (Figs. 4 and 5), indicating that TB induced cellular senescence to suppress SK-Hep-1 cells through p53-related mechanism. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is tuberculosis.