CHECKPOINT SIGNALS Seeking out Single-Stranded DNA

The checkpoint signals that cells generate in response to DNA damage are mediated by the ATR protein kinase, which functions in a complex with the ATRIP protein. Zou and Elledge (see the Perspective by Carr) found that the ATR-ATRIP complex was not recruited to sites of DNA damage in cells that lacked replication protein A (RPA). Although RPA functions in processes such as replication and recombination, it also appears to initiate the checkpoint signal by binding to single-stranded DNA and then interacting with the ATR-ATRIP complex, which phosphorylates substrate proteins at the damage site.

L. Zou, S. J. Elledge, Sensing DNA damage through ATRIP recognition of RPA-ssDNA complexes, Science 300, 1542-1548 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]

A. M. Carr , Beginning at the end, Science 300, 1512-1513 (2003). [Summary] [Full Text]

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In Science Magazine

PERSPECTIVES
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY:
Beginning at the End

Antony M. Carr (6 June 2003)
Science 300 (5625), 1512. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1085689]
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RESEARCH ARTICLES
Sensing DNA Damage Through ATRIP Recognition of RPA-ssDNA Complexes

Lee Zou and Stephen J. Elledge (6 June 2003)
Science 300 (5625), 1542. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1083430]
 |  Abstract »  |  Full Text »  |  PDF »  |  Supporting Online Material »