Properties of an intracisternal A-particle-associated endonuclease activity which is stimulated by ATP

An endonuclease activity associated with purified proteinase K-treated intracisternal A-particles was identified and characterized. The activity required divalent cations, preferring Mn2+ to Mg2+. Salt concentrations above 50 mM inhibited the activity. The endonuclease was greatly stimulated by ATP, ADP, and dATP, whereas AMP appeared to produce a slight inhibition. GTP had no apparent effect on the activity. The enzyme introduced single-stranded nicks into DNA and nicked preferentially supercoiled DNA duplexes in the presence of ATP, although linear duplexes also functioned as substrates. Single-stranded DNA was not nicked to any great extent. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be about 40,000. The characteristics of this enzyme are very similar to those of the endonuclease found associated with Friend murine leukemia virus.