The amino acid sequence of human ribonuclease 4, a highly conserved ribonuclease that cleaves specifically on the 3′ side of uridine

A ribonuclease (RNase) that cleaves specifically on the 3' side of uridine [Shapiro, R., Fett, J. W., Strydom, D. J. & Vallee, B. L. (1986a) Biochemistry 25, 7255-7264] was purified from human plasma and its amino acid sequence was determined. This protein is a 119-residue single-chain polypeptide cross-linked by four disulfide bonds and has an amino-terminal pyroglutaminyl residue. No post-translational modifications were observed during extensive sequence studies on peptide fragments, except for the amino-terminal pyroglutamic acid and a possible deamidation of Asn66. The protein is homologous to the pancreatic ribonucleases and angiogenin, but differs substantially from both of these proteins; the protein sequence has 43% identity with human pancreatic ribonuclease and 39% identity with human angiogenin, as compared to 35% identity between human angiogenin and pancreatic ribonuclease. It is referred to as RNase 4, based on the nomenclature currently used for the genes of pancreatic RNase (RNase 1) and the eosinophil-derived RNases (RNase 2 and RNase 3). Virtually all of the RNase active-site components, including the catalytic residues His12, His119 and Lys41, are preserved. However, some invariant residues of RNase 1 are replaced, e.g. Lys7 by arginine, Asp14 by histidine, and Pro42 by arginine. RNase 4 contains a unique two-residue deletion at the position corresponding to amino acids 77 and 78 of pancreatic RNase, and its carboxyterminal sequence is truncated at position 122. The deletion in angiogenin at position 21 is also found in RNase 4. RNase 4 is very similar to two RNases isolated from bovine and porcine liver, and together they form a new family in the RNase superfamily. The degree of inter-species similarity (90%) is much greater than within the pancreatic RNase and angiogenin families, which suggests that this ribonuclease could possess a physiologically important function other than general RNA catabolism.