Murine serum nucleases – contrasting effects of plasmin and heparin on the activities of DNase1 and DNase1-like 3 (DNase1l3)

DNase1 is regarded as the major serum nuclease; however, a systematic investigation into the presence of additional serum nuclease activities is lacking. We have demonstrated directly that serum contains DNase1-like 3 (DNase1l3) in addition to DNase1 by an improved denaturing SDS-PAGE zymography method and anti-murine DNase1l3 immunoblotting. Using DNA degradation assays, we compared the activities of recombinant murine DNase1 and DNase1l3 (rmDNase1, rmDNase1l3) with the serum of wild-type and DNase1 knockout mice. Serum and rmDNase1 degrade chromatin effectively only in cooperation with serine proteases, such as plasmin or thrombin, which remove DNA-bound proteins. This can be mimicked by the addition of heparin, which displaces histones from chromatin. In contrast, serum and rmDNase1l3 degrade chromatin without proteolytic help and are directly inhibited by heparin and proteolysis by plasmin. In previous studies, serum DNase1l3 escaped detection because of its sensitivity to proteolysis by plasmin after activation of the plasminogen system in the DNA degradation assays. In contrast, DNase1 is resistant to plasmin, probably as a result of its di-N-glycosylation, which is lacking in DNase1l3. Our data demonstrate that secreted rmDNase1 and murine parotid DNase1 are mixtures of three different di-N-glycosylated molecules containing two high-mannose, two complex N-glycans or one high-mannose and one complex N-glycan moiety. In summary, serum contains two nucleases, DNase1 and DNase1l3, which may substitute or cooperate with each other during DNA degradation, providing effective clearance after exposure or release from dying cells.