Extrachromosomal DNA are circular, acentric elements that carry amplified oncogenes in many cancers. Lacking centromeres, they are not partitioned evenly at mitosis, which allows copy number to climb far beyond what chromosomal amplification achieves.
We found that ecDNA nevertheless reach daughter nuclei with high fidelity, by tethering to mitotic chromosomes through transcription that persists into mitosis. We are now working out what makes that connection, what proteins surround ecDNA in the nucleus, and how released elements reintegrate into chromosomes.
Read more at maciejowskilab.org.
