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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Two- and Three-Dimensional Live Cell Imaging of DNA Damage Response Proteins
Published on: September 28, 2012
The Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 (9-1-1) clamp activates checkpoint signaling via TopBP1
Sinny Delacroix1, Jill M Wagner, Masahiko Kobayashi
1Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
Abstract:
DNA replication stress triggers the activation of Checkpoint Kinase 1 (Chk1) in a pathway that requires the independent chromatin loading of the ATRIP-ATR (ATR-interacting protein/ATM [ataxia-telangiectasia mutated]-Rad3-related kinase) complex and the Rad9-Hus1-Rad1 (9-1-1) clamp. We show that Rad9's role in Chk1 activation is to bind TopBP1, which stimulates ATR-mediated Chk1 phosphorylation via TopBP1's activation domain (AD), a domain that binds and activates ATR. Notably, fusion of the AD to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) or histone H2B bypasses the requirement for the 9-1-1 clamp, indicating that the 9-1-1 clamp's primary role in activating Chk1 is to localize the AD to a stalled replication fork.
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