The Rad53 signal transduction pathway: Replication fork stabilization, DNA repair, and adaptation

Cells are continually exposed to genomic insults resulting from exogenous and endogenous damage as well as by challenges posed by DNA replication. In order to maintain genome integrity, the cells must monitor and coordinate different aspects of chromosome metabolism with cell cycle events that are performed in a predetermined order. Checkpoints are cellular surveillance and signaling pathways that coordinate these physiological responses, and growing evidence suggests that failure of these controls can lead to profound genome instability and genetic disorders. In this review, we focus on the different types of signals and mechanisms that contribute to the budding yeast checkpoint activation, the role of the activated replication checkpoint in stabilizing replication forks and in assisting different types of DNA repair and fork restart mechanisms, as well as on the ability of cells to recover from checkpoint arrest after repairing the lesions or adapt when faced with unrepairable DNA damage.