HMGB2 holds the key to the senescence-associated secretory phenotype.

The senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) is a hallmark of senescence with an important physiological impact, but how it is established is unclear. In this issue, Aird et al. (2016. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.201608026) describe how chromatin-bound HMGB2 fine tunes SASP expression by avoiding heterochromatin spreading.