Claspin: From replication stress and DNA damage responses to cancer therapy

Cancer is still one of the major causes of death worldwide. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy remain the main treatment modalities in cancer. These therapies exert their effect mainly through interference with DNA replication and induction of DNA damage. It is believed that one way of improving the efficacy of cancer treatment will be to inhibit the replication stress and DNA damage responses and promote mitotic catastrophe of cancer cells. So far, the majority of the efforts have focused central players of checkpoint responses, such as ATR and CHK1, and DNA damage repair, such as PARPs. Being a key player in the replication stress response, checkpoint activation, and the DNA damage response, Claspin constitutes an attractive therapeutic target in cancer, namely for radio- and chemo-sensitization. In this review, we will go through Claspin functions in the replication stress and DNA damage responses and will discuss how Claspin can be targeted in cancer treatment, as well as the effects of Claspin inhibition.