Deoxyribonuclease refers to a group of glycoprotein endonucleases which are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of phosphodiester linkages in the DNA backbone, thus degrading DNA. The role of the DNase enzyme in cells includes breaking down extracellular DNA (ecDNA) excreted by apoptosis, necrosis, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NET) of cells to help reduce inflammatory responses that otherwise are elicited. A wide variety of deoxyribonucleases are known and fall into one of two families, which differ in their substrate specificities, chemical mechanisms, and biological functions. Laboratory applications of DNase include purifying proteins when extracted from prokaryotic organisms. Additionally, DNase has been applied as a treatment for diseases that are caused by ecDNA in the blood plasma. Assays of DNase are emerging in the research field as well.
Deoxyribonuclease I, is an endonuclease of the DNase family coded by the human gene DNASE1. DNase I is a nuclease that cleaves DNA preferentially at phosphodiester linkages adjacent to a pyrimidine nucleotide, yielding 5'-phosphate-terminated polynucleotides with a free hydroxyl group on position 3', on average producing tetranucleotides. It acts on single-stranded DNA, double-stranded DNA, and chromatin. In addition to its role as a waste-management endonuclease, it has been suggested to be one of the deoxyribonucleases responsible for DNA fragmentation during apoptosis.
Deoxyribonuclease II is an endonuclease that hydrolyzes phosphodiester linkages of deoxyribonucleotide in native and denatured DNA, yielding products with 3'-phosphates and 5'-hydroxyl ends, which occurs as a result of single-strand cleaving mechanism. As the name implies, it functions optimally at acid pH because it is commonly found in low pH environment of lysosomes.
Deoxyribonuclease IV (phage-T4-induced) is catalyzes the degradation nucleotides in DsDNA by attacking the 5'-terminal end.
Estrogen-related receptor gamma (ERR-gamma), also known as NR3B3, is a nuclear receptor that in humans is encoded by the ESRRG gene. It behaves as a constitutive activator of transcription.
P2Y purinoceptor 6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the P2RY6 gene.
Protein kinase C iota type is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PRKCI gene.
Sulfotransferase 1A1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the SULT1A1 gene.
Glutamate—cysteine ligase catalytic subunit is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the GCLC gene.
DNA fragmentation factor subunit alpha (DFFA), also known as Inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (ICAD), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DFFA gene.
Paired box gene 4, also known as PAX4, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the PAX4 gene.
Deoxyribonuclease-1-like 1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the DNASE1L1 gene. It is also known as DNaseX due to its localisation on the X chromosome.
TGFB1-induced anti-apoptotic factor 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TIAF1 gene.
Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 3 is an enzyme that is encoded by the RIPK3 gene in humans.
Endonuclease G, mitochondrial is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ENDOG gene. This protein primarily participates in caspase-independent apoptosis via DNA degradation when translocating from the mitochondrion to nucleus under oxidative stress. As a result, EndoG has been implicated in cancer, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Regulation of its expression levels thus holds potential to treat or ameliorate those conditions.
Apoptosis-inducing factor 2 (AIFM2), also known as apoptosis-inducing factor-homologous mitochondrion-associated inducer of death (AMID), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the AIFM2 gene, also known as p53-responsive gene 3 (PRG3), on chromosome 10.
Apoptotic DNA fragmentation is a key feature of apoptosis, a type of programmed cell death. Apoptosis is characterized by the activation of endogenous endonucleases, particularly the caspase-3 activated DNase (CAD), with subsequent cleavage of nuclear DNA into internucleosomal fragments of roughly 180 base pairs (bp) and multiples thereof (360, 540 etc.). The apoptotic DNA fragmentation is being used as a marker of apoptosis and for identification of apoptotic cells either via the DNA laddering assay, the TUNEL assay, or the by detection of cells with fractional DNA content ("sub G1 cells") on DNA content frequency histograms e.g. as in the Nicoletti assay.
Deoxyribonuclease-1-like 2 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the DNASE1L2 gene.
Caspase-activated DNase (CAD) or DNA fragmentation factor subunit beta is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DFFB gene. It breaks up the DNA during apoptosis and promotes cell differentiation. It is usually an inactive monomer inhibited by ICAD. This is cleaved before dimerization.
Deoxyribonuclease 2 beta is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DNASE2B gene.
