Historically, genome maintenance has been viewed as the largely independent activities of (1) ubiquitin ligases driving unidirectional cell cycle progression and, (2) the activity of cellular checkpoints that monitor DNA integrity and DNA replication. It is well established that the DNA damage response (DDR) checkpoint machinery promotes the activation of repair mechanisms in addition to opening a window for repair. Emerging evidence demonstrates an integrated network of the central cell cycle driving E3 ubiquitin ligases and the checkpoint machinery, as well as deubiquitinating enzymes, which intermittently cooperate and antagonize one another to define windows of checkpoint and repair activities to optimize genome stability and cellular health. A growing number of components of the ubiquitin machinery are involved in the DDR. Herein, we focus on the regulation of cell cycle checkpoints and the DNA repair mechanisms for double strand breaks (DSBs) by the coordinated activities of Cullin RING ligases (CRLs) and the anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C).
Part of the book: Ubiquitination Governing DNA Repair