MC1R antagonists human beta-defensin 3 and agouti signaling protein blocked MSH- but not forskolin-mediated enhancement of platinum-induced DNA damage. cAMP-enhanced repair of cisplatin-induced DNA damage was dependent on PKA-mediated phosphorylation of ATR on S435 which promoted ATR's interaction with the key NER factor xeroderma pigmentosum A (XPA) and facilitated recruitment of an XPA-ATR-pS435 complex to sites of cisplatin DNA damage.
Mutations in genes with consensus helicase homology have been found in cancer-prone syndromes such as xeroderma pigmentosum and Bloom syndrome as well as Werner's syndrome, in which patients age prematurely, and the X-linked mental retardation with alpha-thalassemia syndrome, ATR-X.