New discoveries of extrachromosomal circles of DNA in normal and tumor cells

While the vast majority of cellular DNA in eukaryotes is contained in long linear strands in chromosomes, we have long recognized some exceptions like mitochondrial DNA, plasmids in yeasts and double-minutes in cancer cells where the DNA is present in extrachromosomal circles. In addition, specializ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in genetics 2018-01, Vol.34 (4), p.270-278
Main Authors: Paulsen, Teressa, Kumar, Pankaj, Koseoglu, M. Murat, Dutta, Anindya
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:While the vast majority of cellular DNA in eukaryotes is contained in long linear strands in chromosomes, we have long recognized some exceptions like mitochondrial DNA, plasmids in yeasts and double-minutes in cancer cells where the DNA is present in extrachromosomal circles. In addition, specialized extrachromosomal circles of DNA (eccDNA) have been noted to arise from repetitive genomic sequences like telomeric DNA or ribosomal DNA. Recently eccDNA arising from unique (non-repetitive) DNA have been discovered in normal and malignant cells, raising interesting questions about their biogenesis, function and clinical utility. Here we will review recent results and future directions of inquiry on these new forms of eccDNA.
ISSN:0168-9525
DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2017.12.010