Preparation of the bifunctional enzyme ribonuclease-deoxyribonuclease by cross-linkage

Protease-free bovine pancreatic deoxyribonuclease (DNase) (1.6 X 10(-4) mmol) was thiolated on the NH2 groups with N-acetyl-DL-homocysteine thiolactone (2.4 X 10(-2) mmol) at pH 10.5 with imidazole (2.4 X 10(-2) mmol) as the catalyst in the presence of 4,4'-dithiodipyridine (4.2 X 10(-2) mmol). The product obtained after 16 h at 4 degrees C, 2-acetamido-4-(4'-dithiopyridyl)butyryl-DNase, isolated by gel filtration, contained an average of 0.87 +/- 0.13 mol of mixed disulfide per mol of DNase. Ribonuclease (RNase) was thiolated in a similar manner, but under N2 in the absence of 4,4'-dithiodipyridine. The protein N-acetylhomocysteinyl-RNase contained on the average 0.94 +/- 0.11 mol of sulfhydryl groups per mol of RNase. The coupling of RNase ot DNase was accomplished by thiol-disulfide interchange at pH 6.2 and 25 degrees C for 90 min. The hybrid enzyme (yield 25--33%, based upon the DNase derivative used) was freed from unreacted DNase, RNase, and homodimers by gel filtration, affinity chromatography, and salting-out chromatography. The purified enzyme contained one molecule each of DNase and RNase and hydrolyzed thymus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and yeast or transfer ribonucleic acid (RNA) with 75 and 40% of the efficiencies, respectively, of the parent enzymes. The RNA strand of the hybrid substrate, phage f1 DNA-[3H]RNA, prepared from phage DNA with RNA polymerase, was hydrolyzed rapidly by the hybrid enzyme but was not hydrolyzed by RNase alone. A conjugate of the two enzymes offers the possibility in vivo of delivering two enzymes that differ in size, charge, and biological function to the same site at the same time.