An endodeoxyribonuclease of human KB cells. Purification and properties of the enzyme

An endodeoxyribonuclease has been purified 750-fold from human KB cells. The purified endonuclease requires Mg2+ for maximum activity: Mn2+ was less than half as active and Ca2+ inhibited the reaction. The optimum pH is 8.8 in Tris-HCl and the optimum buffer concentration is 10 mM. KCl (and NaCl), --SH-reacting reagents, and tRNA strongly inhibit the reaction. An apparent molecular weight of 54,000 was determined by sedimentation in a glycerol gradient. The purified endonuclease cleaved native, double-stranded adenovirus 2 DNA, and the reaction proceeded stepwise during the initial stage of degradation by cleavage of the DNA substrate in half, then in half again, etc. At longer digestion times, single strand scissions were detected. RNA was not a substrate for the enzyme. Poly(dG) . poly(dC) was susceptible but poly(dA) . poly(dT) was resistant to degradation. Hydrolysis of adenovirus 2 DNA yielded double-stranded polynucleotides containing 5'-phosphoryl and 3'-hydroxyl termini with short, single-stranded regions presumably at the ends. More than 50% of the product of a limit digest had a chain length greater than 35 to 40 nucleotides. Analysis of the 5' and 3' end groups of the digestion products indicated a preference for the site of the enzymatic cleavage; thymidylic acid residues were present at the 5' end and deoxyguanosine residues at the 3' end, each with a frequency of 40 to 50%.