Micrococcal nuclease
Micrococcal nuclease is an endo-exonuclease that preferentially digests single-stranded nucleic acids. The rate of cleavage is 30 times greater at the 5' side of A or T than at G or C and results in the production of mononucleotides and oligonucleotides with terminal 3'-phosphates. The enzyme is also active against double-stranded DNA and RNA and all sequences will be ultimately cleaved.
Characteristics
The enzyme has a molecular weight of 16.9kDa. The pH optimum is reported as 9.2. The enzyme activity is strictly dependent on Ca2+ and the pH optimum varies according to Ca2+ concentration. The enzyme is therefore easily inactivated by EGTA.Structure
The 3-dimensional structure of micrococcal nuclease was solved very early in the history of protein crystallography, in 1969. Higher-resolution, more recent crystal structures are available for the apo form and for the thymidine-diphosphate-inhibited form. As seen in the ribbon diagram above, the nuclease molecule has 3 long alpha helices and a 5-stranded, barrel-shaped beta sheet, in an arrangement known as the OB-fold as classified in the SCOP database.Applications
- CUT&RUN sequencing, antibody-targeted controlled cleavage by micrococcal nuclease for transcriptomic profiling.
- Hydrolysis of nucleic acids in crude cell-free extracts.
- Sequencing of RNA.
- Preparation of rabbit reticulocyte lysates.
- Studies of chromatin structure.
- Removal of nucleic acids from laboratory protein preparations allowing for protein folding and structure-function studies.
- Research on the mechanisms of protein folding.