Ribonuclease (RNase)

Ribonuclease (RNase) is a type of nuclease enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of RNA into smaller components by cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between nucleotides. RNases are found ubiquitously in all living organisms and play essential roles in RNA metabolism, including RNA maturation, degradation, turnover, and quality control. They are classified as endoribonucleases (cleave internal bonds) or exoribonucleases (remove nucleotides from ends), and further based on catalytic mechanism (phosphorolytic or hydrolytic). Examples include RNase A, RNase B, RNase III, RNase L, and RNase P. RNases are crucial for mRNA degradation, rRNA/tRNA processing, and gene expression regulation. They have applications in research for RNA removal during DNA purification and as model systems for protein folding studies.

Catalyzes the degradation of RNA by cleaving phosphodiester bonds.