Connecting the Dots between Septins and the DNA Damage Checkpoint

In budding yeast, septins are involved in the morphogenesis checkpoint and the DNA damage checkpoint, both of which regulate cell-cycle progression. In this issue of Cell, link septins to DNA damage in mammalian cells by identifying a new signaling pathway that includes the adaptors SOCS7 and NCK. As NCK controls actin dynamics, this pathway may connect DNA damage responses and cellular morphology in metazoans.