Ribonuclease H (RNase H)

Ribonuclease H (RNase H) is a nonspecific endoribonuclease, localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm. It is ubiquitously found and widely present among many organisms including viruses and human.

Nonspecific endoribonuclease that specifically cleaves RNA in RNA:DNA hybrids. A minimum of four continuous base pairs (RNA:DNA) is required for activity. RNase H cleaves RNA to release 5′-oligoribonucleotides.

Source: E. coli H560 pol A1
Storage Buffer: 25 mM Tris-HCl, 50 mM KCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol, 0.1 mM EDTA, 50% glycerol (v/v), pH 8.0 (+4°C)
Volume Activity: 1 x 103 U/ml assayed according to Hillenbrand & Staudenbauer.

Ribonuclease H (RNase H) has been used for:

• In vivo RNA-primed initiation of DNA synthesis
• Elimination of mRNA during second-strand cDNA synthesis
• Site-specific cleavage of RNA
• Detection of RNA:DNA regions in double-stranded DNA of natural origin
• Removal of poly (A) sequences of mRNA if oligo (dT) is present
• RNA extraction and quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)

Ribonuclease H (RNase H) specifically cleaves RNA in RNA:DNA hybrids. A minimum of four continuous base pairs (RNA:DNA) is required for activity. RNase H cleaves RNA to release 5′-oligoribonucleotides. RNase H is associated with nucleic acid immunity. Using RNase H for degrading mRNA results in 80% depletion of mRNA and protein expression. RNase H recognizes the start codon and the 3′ and 5′ untranslated regions. This enzyme participates in DNA replication.

Activator: The enzyme has its maximal activity in presence of SH-reagents

Store at -15–-25 °C. (unopened)

Absence of endonucleases, nicking activities, and ribonucleases.

For life science research only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. Using RNase H after the cDNA synthesis step can increase the sensitivity of a two-step RT-PCR assay.

RNase H is assayed according to Hillenbrand and Staudenbauer. One unit of RNase H is the amount of enzyme which produces 1 nmol acid-soluble ribonucleotides from[³H] poly(A) x poly(dT) in 20 minutes at +37 °C under the stated assay conditions.

Volume Activity: Approximately 1 U/μl