ATR maintains select progenitors during nervous system development

The ATR (ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) and rad3-related) checkpoint kinase is considered critical for signalling DNA replication stress and its dysfunction can lead to the neurodevelopmental disorder, ATR-Seckel syndrome. To understand how ATR functions during neurogenesis, we conditionally deleted Atr broadly throughout the murine nervous system, or in a restricted manner in the dorsal telencephalon. Unexpectedly, in both scenarios, Atr loss impacted neurogenesis relatively late during neural development involving only certain progenitor populations. Whereas the Atr-deficient embryonic cerebellar external germinal layer underwent p53-(and p16(Ink4a/Arf))-independent proliferation arrest, other brain regions suffered apoptosis that was partially p53 dependent. In contrast to other organs, in the nervous system, p53 loss did not worsen the outcome of Atr inactivation. Coincident inactivation of Atm also did not affect the phenotype after Atr deletion, supporting non-overlapping physiological roles for these related DNA damage-response kinases in the brain. Rather than an essential general role in preventing replication stress, our data indicate that ATR functions to monitor genomic integrity in a selective spatiotemporal manner during neurogenesis. The EMBO Journal (2012) 31, 1177-1189. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2011.493; Published online 20 January 2012