Deoxyribonucleases

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Enzymes that cleave the chemical bonds of DNA molecules, cutting the genetic material into smaller fragments
2. Proteins that catalyze the breakdown of deoxyribonucleic acid by splitting its strands at specific or random points
3. Biological catalysts which hydrolyze the phosphodiester linkages in DNA, used widely in cells and in laboratory genetic work

Etymology: Deoxyribonuclease is a chemical coinage built from three pieces of technical vocabulary. "Deoxyribose" is the sugar found in DNA, from "deoxy-", meaning that one oxygen atom has been removed from the parent sugar ribose, which gives "ribose" its name. "Nuclease" is a general term for an enzyme that cuts nucleic acids, and it takes its ending from "nucleic acid" with the usual "-ase" suffix that marks enzymes. Joined together, the name describes exactly what the enzyme does: it breaks apart the sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA. The plural, "deoxyribonucleases", simply refers to the whole family of such enzymes, since many different ones act on DNA in different ways and places. Cells use them for jobs such as digesting DNA and trimming it during repair, and laboratories use them to cut DNA at specific points.

Synonyms: DNase