Here, we summarize recent advances in understanding the multiple roles played by TopBP1 in ATR activation at stalled replication forks. We review recent studies showing that TopBP1 controls the loading of 9-1-1 onto stalled replication forks via a pathway that also requires DNA polymerase alpha (pol α). Based on these recent studies, we present a revised model for ATR activation, and speculate that TopBP1-mediated recruitment of pol α and 9-1-1 may couple checkpoint activation to replication restart, when DNA synthesis is blocked on the leading strand of a replication fork. Lastly, we present a new experiment that examines how TopBP1 binds to stalled replication forks, and we identify important new questions that our recent studies have raised regarding how stalled replication forks are sensed by the ATR checkpoint pathway.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.