Effects of nucleases on cell-free extrachromosomal circular DNA (Mus musculus)

In this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between nucleases and eccDNA characteristics in plasma. By using knockout mouse models with deficiencies in deoxyribonuclease 1 (DNASE1) or deoxyribonuclease 1 like 3 (DNASE1L3), we found that cell-free eccDNA in Dnase1l3 knockout mice exhibited larger size distributions than that in wild-type mice. Such size alterations were not found in tissue eccDNA of either Dnase1knockout or Dnase1l3 knockout mice, suggesting that DNASE1L3 could digest eccDNA extracellularly but did not seem to affect intracellular eccDNA.