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Analysis of institutional authors

Elbæk CrAuthor

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April 3, 2025
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Article
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WEE1 kinase protects the stability of stalled DNA replication forks by limiting CDK2 activity.

Publicated to: Cell Reports. 38 (3): 110261-110261 - 2022-01-01 38(3), DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.110261

Authors:

Elbæk CR; Petrosius V; Benada J; Erichsen L; Damgaard RB; Sørensen CS
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Affiliations

Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløesvej 5, Copenhagen N 2200, Denmark. - Author
Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløesvej 5, Copenhagen N 2200, Denmark. Electronic address: claus.storgaard@bric.ku.dk. - Author
Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløesvej 5, Copenhagen N 2200, Denmark; Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Kongens Lyngby 2800, Denmark. - Author
Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Kongens Lyngby 2800, Denmark. - Author
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Abstract

Cellular feedback systems ensure genome maintenance during DNA replication. When replication forks stall, newly replicated DNA is protected by pathways that limit excessive DNA nuclease attacks. Here we show that WEE1 activity guards against nascent DNA degradation at stalled forks. Furthermore, we identify WEE1-dependent suppression of cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) as a major activity counteracting fork degradation. We establish DNA2 as the nuclease responsible for excessive fork degradation in WEE1-inhibited cells. In addition, WEE1 appears to be unique among CDK activity suppressors in S phase because neither CHK1 nor p21 promote fork protection as WEE1 does. Our results identify a key role of WEE1 in protecting stalled forks, which is separate from its established role in safeguarding DNA replication initiation. Our findings highlight how WEE1 inhibition evokes massive genome challenges during DNA replication, and this knowledge may improve therapeutic strategies to specifically eradicate cancer cells that frequently harbor elevated DNA replication stress.
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Keywords

CancerCdkCdk2 protein, humanCell cycleCell cycle proteinsCell lineCyclin-dependent kinase 2Dna replicationFork protectionGenome integrityGenomic instabilityHumansNucleasesProtein-tyrosine kinasesReplication stressWee1Wee1 protein, human

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Cell Reports due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 32/191, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Cell Biology.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-02-05:

  • Europe PMC: 40
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-02-05:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 83.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 82 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 11.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 14 (Altmetric).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Denmark.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (ELBAEK, CAMILLA) .

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