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
Apoptotic DNA fragmentation CAD. Degradation of nuclear DNA into nucleosomal units is one of the hallmarks of apoptotic cell death. It occurs in response to various apoptotic stimuli in a wide variety of cell types. Molecular characterization of this process identified a specific DNase (CAD, caspase-activated DNase) that cleaves chromosomal DNA in a caspase-dependent manner. CAD is synthesized with the help of ICAD (inhibitor of CAD), which works as a specific chaperone for CAD and is found complexed with ICAD in proliferating cells. When cells are induced to undergo apoptosis, caspase 3 cleaves ICAD to dissociate the CAD:ICAD complex, allowing CAD to cleave