To establish the effect of HGF on Chk1 phosphorylation, we selected two representative colon cancer cell lines: HT-29 (wild-type RAS, p53-deficient) and HCT-116 (mutant RAS, wild-type p53, ATM deficient), which are dependent on the ATR/Chk1 pathway. This evidence concerns the gene ATM and malignant colon neoplasm.