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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2008 Oct 28.
Published in final edited form as: Mol Ther. 2008 May 20;16(7):1189–1199. doi: 10.1038/mt.2008.103

Figure 2. Fate of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vector genomes.

Figure 2

(a) Structure of an inverted terminal repeat (ITR) in the single-stranded AAV genome. Sequence elements of the ITR are labeled, and integration hotspots are red. (b) The single stranded rAAV genome becomes double-stranded through DNA synthesis and/or annealing. The double-stranded rAAV genome concatamerizes by head-to-tail, head-to-head, and tail-to-tail intermolecular ligation. The rAAV genome predominantly persists episomally. However, rare integration events do occur, most probably at chromosomal double-strand breaks. dsDNA, double-stranded DNA; ssDNA, single-stranded DNA.