Cleavage of claspin by caspase-7 during apoptosis inhibits the Chk1 pathway

Catriona A.L. Clarke, Lara N. Bennett, Paul R. Clarke (Lead / Corresponding author)

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    40 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Claspin is required for the phosphorylation and activation of the Chk1 protein kinase by ATR during DNA replication and in response to DNA damage. This checkpoint pathway plays a critical role in the resistance of cells to genotoxic stress. Here, we show that human Claspin is cleaved by caspase-7 during the initiation of apoptosis. In cells, induction of DNA damage by etoposide at first produced rapid phosphorylation of Chk1 at a site targeted by ATR. Subsequently, etoposide caused activation of caspase-7, cleavage of Claspin, and dephosphorylation of Chk1. In apoptotic cell extracts, Claspin was cleaved by caspase-7 at a single aspartate residue into a large N-terminal fragment and a smaller C-terminal fragment that contain different functional domains. The large N-terminal fragment was heavily phosphorylated in a human cell-free system in response to double-stranded DNA oligonucleotides, and this fragment retained Chk1 binding activity. In contrast, the smaller C-terminal fragment did not bind Chk1, but did associate with DNA and inhibited the DNA-dependent phosphorylation of Chk1 associated with its activation. These results indicate that cleavage of Claspin by caspase-7 inactivates the Chk1 signaling pathway. This mechanism may regulate the balance between cell cycle arrest and induction of apoptosis during the response to genotoxic stress.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)35337-35345
    Number of pages9
    JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
    Volume280
    Issue number42
    Early online date25 Aug 2005
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Oct 2005

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • Molecular Biology
    • Cell Biology

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