Extrachromosomal Circular DNA are composed of chromatin and replicate in the nucleus of the cell during cell division. Unlike typical chromosomes, they are composed of circular fragments of DNA, up to only a few million base pairs in size and contain no centromere or telomere. Extrachromosomal Circular DNA Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is circular DNA found in the nuclei of plant and animal cells, including human cells, in addition to chromosomal DNA. eccDNA can be from 200 up to 5 million base pairs in length. eccDNA has been found in the nuclei of human cancer cells and shown to carry many copies of
DNA re-replication and Cdc6 expression. Loss of p53 regulation in cells can also be observed frequently in cell lines that overexpress Cdt1 or Cdc6. For the special case of cell cycle-regulated DNA replication in which DNA synthesis is uncoupled from cell cycle progression refer to endoreduplication. Endoreduplication is an important and widespread mechanism in many cell types. It does not adhere to many of the cell cycle checkpoints and damage controls in regularly dividing cells, but it does not result in uncontrolled re-replication. Endoreduplication is a controlled process and occurs to perform a specific cell function. In some cells, it has been