Extrachromosomal DNA in Genome (in)Stability – Role of Telomeres

Eukaryotic genome consists of long linear chromosomes. It is complex in its content and has dynamic features. It mostly consists of non-coding DNA of various repeats, often prone to recombination including creation of extrachromosomal DNA which can be re-integrated into distant parts of the genome, often in different chromosome. These events are usually part of normal genome function enabling molecular response to changes in the cell or organism’s environment and enabling their evolutionary development as well. These mechanisms also contribute to genome instability as in the case of abnormal immortalization like in cancer cells. Telomeres are among most important repetitive sequences, located at the end of linear chromosomes. They serve as guardians of genome stability but they also have dynamic features playing important role in cell aging and immortalization, both as chromosomal components or as extrachromosomal DNA. Also, recombination events on telomeres provide plausible explanation for stochastic nature of cell senescence, a phenomenon unjustly overlooked in broader literature.