ATM

ATM is a serine/threonine protein kinase and a crucial nexus for the cellular response to DNA double-stranded breaks[1]. Mechanistically, ATM signals to cell-cycle and DNA-repair components by phosphorylating downstream targets including p53, CHK2, NBS1, and BRCA1[2]. Transcription- and topoisomerase I-induced DNA double-strand breaks also activate ATM in post-mitotic neurons and lymphocytes, linking ATM signaling to transcription-associated genome stress[3]. In disease context, ATM mutations cause ataxia-telangiectasia, which includes neurodegeneration, immune dysfunction, radiosensitivity, and cancer predisposition[1]. Compared with related PIKK isoforms, ATM, ATR, and DNA-PK jointly control the DNA damage response, but ATR and DNA-PK can compensate for ATM absence in ataxia-telangiectasia[4]. DNA-PK differs functionally because DNA-PKcs and Ku are essential for double-strand break repair through non-homologous end joining[5]. For experimental applications, loss or inhibition of ATM activity increases sensitivity to ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic agents that elicit DNA double-strand breaks[2]. KU55933 sensitized cells to the topoisomerase IIα inhibitor NK314, supporting ATM inhibition as a tool for studying DNA repair-dependent drug response[6].