Alkaline deoxyribonuclease activity in mouse teratocarcinoma cells: Variation of enzyme levels during differentiation

Abstract Embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells contain an alkaline DNase whose specific activity is much higher than their differentiated derivatives. After partial purification on CM-Sephadex, fractions eluted at 0.15 M NaCl contain a DNase activity which is inhibited by G-actin. The possible role of this alkaline DNase activity in maintaining the unpolymerized state of actin filaments in EC cells is discussed.