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 repair damage to DNA. This relaxation allows other proteins in the nucleotide excision repair pathway to enter the chromatin and repair UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer damages. After rapid chromatin remodeling, cell cycle checkpoints are activated to allow DNA repair to occur before the cell cycle progresses. First, two kinases, ATM and ATR are activated within 5 or 6 minutes after DNA is damaged. This is followed by phosphorylation of the cell cycle checkpoint protein Chk1, initiating its function, about 10 minutes after DNA is damaged. After DNA damage, cell cycle checkpoints are activated. Checkpoint activation pauses the cell cycle and gives