ATM lifts the cGAS handbrake on DNA replication
Philippe Pasero
Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 29 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-01944-6 The innate immunity sensor cGAS detects cytosolic DNA. A study by Song et al. shows that nuclear cGAS slows replication by binding reversed forks, but ATM displaces it to fine-tune fork speed. In ATM‑deficient cells, persistent cGAS causes fork collapse and cytosolic DNA release, activating interferon signalling.