REVIEW: Biogenesis of Micronuclei

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O. P. Kisurina-Evgenieva^*, O. I. Sutiagina, and G. E. Onishchenko

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Biology, 119234 Moscow, Russia; fax: +7 (495) 939-4309; E-mail: evgengeva@mail.ru

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received July 6, 2015; Revision received January 29, 2016

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The presence of micronuclei in a cell is an indicator of DNA damage and genetic instability. In this review, mechanisms of emergence of micronuclei, their functional activity, and pathways of elimination are discussed. It is supposed that morphological and functional varieties of micronuclei as well as their degradation pathways can be determined by the chromosomal material localized inside these cell structures.

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KEY WORDS: micronucleus, replication, transcription, repair, elimination

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297916050035

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