Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0004135 (ATM)
 13,001 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdk) promote cell proliferation, are often deregulated in human cancers, and are targets of ongoing cancer chemotherapy trials. We show here that Cdk activity is also required in human cells to maintain function of the Chk1 pathway, a key component of the response to DNA damage or stalled replication. Chk1 expression was markedly reduced in primary fibroblasts and U2OS osteogenic sarcoma cells by treatment with small molecule Cdk inhibitors or induction of a dominant-negative mutant of Cdk2. The findings of decreased Chk1 activity and accumulation of Cdc25A, a protein targeted for degradation by Chk1, confirmed that Chk1 function was impaired. Furthermore, Cdk inhibition triggered a DNA damage response, characterized by the accumulation of activated forms of ATM and Chk2 as well as nuclear foci containing phosphorylated substrates of ATM/ATR, including histone H2AX (gammaH2AX). Time course experiments showed that the bulk of ATM activation followed Chk1 down-regulation. Chk1 RNA interference combined with partial inhibition of DNA replication was sufficient to evoke the DNA damage response. Conversely, ectopic expression of Chk1 blunted induction of gammaH2AX foci by Cdk inhibitors, indicating that Chk1 down-regulation was necessary to elicit the full phenotype. Finally, both Cdk and Chk1 inhibitors enhanced the cytotoxity of etoposide, a DNA-damaging agent. These results define a pathway through which Cdk inhibition can mediate DNA damage and potentially enhance the efficacy of extant cancer chemotherapies.
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PMID:Cdk inhibition in human cells compromises chk1 function and activates a DNA damage response. 1570 74

The WRN protein is mutated in the chromosomally unstable Werner syndrome (WS) and the Nbs1 protein is mutated in Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS). The Nbs1 protein is an integral component of the M/R/N complex. Although WRN is known to interact with this complex in response to gamma-irradiation, the mechanism of action is unclear. Here, we show that WRN co-localizes and associates with gamma H2AX, a marker protein of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs), after cellular exposure to gamma-irradiation. While the DNA damage-inducible Nbs1 foci formation is normal in WS cells, WRN focus formation is defective in NBS cells. Consistent with this, gamma H2AX colocalizes with Nbs1 in WS cells but not with WRN in NBS cells. The defective WRN-gamma H2AX association in NBS cells can be complemented with wild-type Nbs1, but not with an Nbs1 S343A point mutant that lacks an ATM phosphorylation site. WRN associates with H2AX in a manner dependent upon the M/R/N complex. Our results suggest a novel pathway in which Nbs1 may recruit WRN to the site of DNA DSBs in an ATM-dependent manner.
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PMID:Werner syndrome protein associates with gamma H2AX in a manner that depends upon Nbs1. 1573 40

Budding yeast Rad9 (scRad9) plays a central role in mediating Mec1-dependent phosphorylation by recruiting its downstream substrates. The human scRad9 orthologues 53BP1 and NFBD1 associate with ionizing radiation-induced foci (IRIF) at sites of DNA repair. RNAi-based gene silencing of 53BP1 or NFBD1 has shown impaired phosphorylation of SQ/TQ [ataxia-telangiectasia mutated/ATM and Rad3-related (ATM/ATR) substrates] at IRIF, intra-S, and G(2)-M checkpoints and has thereby revealed essential roles for 53BP1 and NFBD1 in the DNA damage signaling pathway. Whether 53BP1 and NFBD1 are required for activation of kinases and/or for recruitment of substrates at IRIF, however, is not clear. Here we show that both 53BP1 and NFBD1 are required for recruitment of ATR to DNA damage sites, as well as for ATR-dependent phosphorylation in response to DNA damage. NFBD1 is not required for ssDNA generation at DNA damage sites and is not recruited by replication protein A (RPA)-coated ssDNA. We therefore show that recruitment of NFBD1 and/or 53BP1, the factors downstream of H2AX, is independent of ssDNA generation and RPA coating, whereas both ssDNA and RPA coating play key roles in regulation of the ATR-dependent pathway. These novel findings help clarify where NFBD1 functions in DNA damage early responses.
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PMID:NFBD1/Mdc1 mediates ATR-dependent DNA damage response. 1573 98

The histone variant H2AX is rapidly phosphorylated at the sites of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). This phosphorylated H2AX (gamma-H2AX) is involved in the retention of repair and signaling factor complexes at sites of DNA damage. The dependency of this phosphorylation on the various PI3K-related protein kinases (in mammals, ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related [ATR], ataxia telangiectasia mutated [ATM], and DNA-PKCs) has been a subject of debate; it has been suggested that ATM is required for the induction of foci at DSBs, whereas ATR is involved in the recognition of stalled replication forks. In this study, using Arabidopsis as a model system, we investigated the ATR and ATM dependency of the formation of gamma-H2AX foci in M-phase cells exposed to ionizing radiation (IR). We find that although the majority of these foci are ATM-dependent, approximately 10% of IR-induced gamma-H2AX foci require, instead, functional ATR. This indicates that even in the absence of DNA replication, a distinct subset of IR-induced damage is recognized by ATR. In addition, we find that in plants, gamma-H2AX foci are induced at only one-third the rate observed in yeasts and mammals. This result may partly account for the relatively high radioresistance of plants versus yeast and mammals.
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PMID:Ionizing radiation-dependent gamma-H2AX focus formation requires ataxia telangiectasia mutated and ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related. 1577 50

STAT-1 plays a role in mediating stress responses to various stimuli and has also been implied to be a tumour suppressor. Here, we report that STAT-1-deficient cells have defects both in intra-S-phase and G2-M checkpoints in response to DNA damage. Interestingly, STAT-1-deficient cells showed reduced Chk2 phosphorylation on threonine 68 (Chk2(-T68)) following DNA damage, suggesting that STAT-1 might function in the ATM-Chk2 pathway. Moreover, the defects in Chk2(-T68) phosphorylation in STAT-1-deficient cells also correlated with reduced degradation of Cdc25A compared with STAT-1-expressing cells after DNA damage. We also show that STAT-1 is required for ATM-dependent phosphorylation of NBS1 and p53 but not for BRCA1 or H2AX phosphorylation following DNA damage. Expression levels of BRCT mediator/adaptor proteins MDC1 and 53BP1, which are required for ATM-mediated pathways, are reduced in cells lacking STAT-1. Enforced expression of MDC1 into STAT-1-deficient cells restored ATM-mediated phosphorylation of downstream substrates. These results imply that STAT-1 plays a crucial role in the DNA-damage-response by regulating the expression of 53BP1 and MDC1, factors known to be important for mediating ATM-dependent checkpoint pathways.
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PMID:STAT-1 facilitates the ATM activated checkpoint pathway following DNA damage. 2572 97

During the evolution of cancer, the incipient tumour experiences 'oncogenic stress', which evokes a counter-response to eliminate such hazardous cells. However, the nature of this stress remains elusive, as does the inducible anti-cancer barrier that elicits growth arrest or cell death. Here we show that in clinical specimens from different stages of human tumours of the urinary bladder, breast, lung and colon, the early precursor lesions (but not normal tissues) commonly express markers of an activated DNA damage response. These include phosphorylated kinases ATM and Chk2, and phosphorylated histone H2AX and p53. Similar checkpoint responses were induced in cultured cells upon expression of different oncogenes that deregulate DNA replication. Together with genetic analyses, including a genome-wide assessment of allelic imbalances, our data indicate that early in tumorigenesis (before genomic instability and malignant conversion), human cells activate an ATR/ATM-regulated DNA damage response network that delays or prevents cancer. Mutations compromising this checkpoint, including defects in the ATM-Chk2-p53 pathway, might allow cell proliferation, survival, increased genomic instability and tumour progression.
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PMID:DNA damage response as a candidate anti-cancer barrier in early human tumorigenesis. 1582 43

Human checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) is an essential kinase required to preserve genome stability. Here, we show that Chk1 inhibition by two distinct drugs, UCN-01 and CEP-3891, or by Chk1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) leads to phosphorylation of ATR targets. Chk1-inhibition triggered rapid, pan-nuclear phosphorylation of histone H2AX, p53, Smc1, replication protein A, and Chk1 itself in human S-phase cells. These phosphorylations were inhibited by ATR siRNA and caffeine, but they occurred independently of ATM. Chk1 inhibition also caused an increased initiation of DNA replication, which was accompanied by increased amounts of nonextractable RPA protein, formation of single-stranded DNA, and induction of DNA strand breaks. Moreover, these responses were prevented by siRNA-mediated downregulation of Cdk2 or the replication initiation protein Cdc45, or by addition of the CDK inhibitor roscovitine. We propose that Chk1 is required during normal S phase to avoid aberrantly increased initiation of DNA replication, thereby protecting against DNA breakage. These results may help explain why Chk1 is an essential kinase and should be taken into account when drugs to inhibit this kinase are considered for use in cancer treatment.
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PMID:Inhibition of human Chk1 causes increased initiation of DNA replication, phosphorylation of ATR targets, and DNA breakage. 1583 61

The ATM kinase is a tumor suppressor and key regulator of biological responses to DNA damage. Cultured cells respond to genotoxic insults that induce DNA double-strand breaks by prompt activation of ATM through its autophosphorylation on serine 1981. However, whether ATM-S1981 becomes phosphorylated in vivo, for example during physiological processes that generate DSBs, is unknown. Here we produced phospho-specific monoclonal antibodies against S1981-phosphorylated ATM (pS-ATM), and applied them to immunohistochemical analyses of a wide range of normal human tissues and testicular tumors. Our data show that regardless of proliferation and differentiation, most human tissues contain only the S1981-nonphosphorylated, inactive form of ATM. In contrast, nuclear staining for pS-ATM was detected in subsets of bone-marrow lymphocytes and primary spermatocytes in the adult testes, cell types in which DSBs are generated during physiological V(D)J recombination and meiotic recombination, respectively. Among testicular germ-cell tumors, an aberrant constitutive pS-ATM was observed especially in embryonal carcinomas, less in seminomas, and only modestly in teratomas and the pre-invasive carcinoma-in-situ stage. Compared with pS-ATM, phosphorylated histone H2AX (gammaH2AX), another DNA damage marker and ATM substrate, was detected in a higher proportion of cancer cells, and also in normal fetal gonocytes, and a wider range of adult spermatocyte differentiation stages. Collectively, our results strongly support the physiological relevance of the recently proposed model of ATM autoactivation, and provide further evidence for constitutive activation of the DNA damage machinery during cancer development. The new tools characterized here should facilitate monitoring of ATM activation in clinical specimens, and help develop future treatment strategies.
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PMID:ATM activation in normal human tissues and testicular cancer. 2073 22

We previously demonstrated that the nitroxide antioxidant tempol (4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl) increased latency to tumorigenesis and doubled (100%) the lifespan of Atm-deficient mice, a mouse model of ataxia telangiectasia, which displays accelerated oxidative damage and stress. Tempol treatment of cancer-prone p53-deficient mice resulted in a small but significant (25%) increase in lifespan by prolonging latency to tumorigenesis, demonstrating that existing oxidative stress and damage are not necessary for the chemopreventative effects of tempol. However, the relatively small effect on latency in p53-deficient mice and the finding that tempol-mediated resistance to oxidative insult was p53-dependent suggested a more direct role of p53 in the chemopreventative effects of tempol. Surprisingly, tempol treatment specifically increased serine 18 phosphorylation of p53 (but not gamma-H2AX) and p21 expression in primary thymocytes in vitro in a p53-dependent fashion. Inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) family members suggested that SMG-1 was responsible for the tempol-mediated enhancement of p53 serine 18 phosphorylation. These data suggest that the chemopreventative effect of tempol is not solely due to the reduction of oxidative stress and damage but may also be related to redox-mediated signaling functions that include p53 pathway activation.
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PMID:Cancer chemoprevention by the antioxidant tempol acts partially via the p53 tumor suppressor. 1588 86

Activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2) is regulated by JNK/p38 in response to stress. Here, we demonstrate that the protein kinase ATM phosphorylates ATF2 on serines 490 and 498 following ionizing radiation (IR). Phosphoantibodies to ATF2(490/8) reveal dose- and time-dependent phosphorylation of ATF2 by ATM that results in its rapid colocalization with gamma-H2AX and MRN components into IR-induced foci (IRIF). Inhibition of ATF2 expression decreased recruitment of Mre11 to IRIF, abrogated S phase checkpoint, reduced activation of ATM, Chk1, and Chk2, and impaired radioresistance. ATF2 requires neither JNK/p38 nor its DNA binding domain for recruitment to IRIF and the S phase checkpoint. Our findings identify a role for ATF2 in the DNA damage response that is uncoupled from its transcriptional activity.
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PMID:ATM-dependent phosphorylation of ATF2 is required for the DNA damage response. 1591 64


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