Actin is the naturally occurring inhibitor of deoxyribonuclease I

Various tissues and cells in culture contain a specific inhibitor of DNase I (EC 3.1.4.5). In this paper evidence is presented that this inhibitor is actin, one of the major structural proteins of muscle and nonmuscle cells. (a) The inhibitor is a major cellular component constituting 5-10% of the soluble protein. (b) It migrates with actin on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, having a characteristic molecular weight of 42,000. (c) It has an amino-acid composition closely similar to that of actin. (d) The peptide maps of the two proteins are nearly identical. (e) Skeletal muscle actin inhibits the enzymatic activity of DNase I. (f) DNase I-agarose affinity chromatography quantitatively retains purified skeletal muscle actin, and actin, specifically, from high-speed supernatants of whole cell extracts. (g) An antibody to purified inhibitor protein from calf thymus, used in indirect immunofluorescence on cells grown in culture, stains a two-dimensional network of fibers similar to that seen with an actin-specific antibody.The observation that actin can be isolated by DNase-agarose affinity chromatography provides a useful tool for the biochemical study of actin under different physiological conditions.