Entry Dnase1 Family in Autoimmunity Minal Engavale 1, Jon McCord 2 , Britney Mapp 1, Nadine Nzimulinda 1, Elisabeth Bengtson 1, R. Bryan Sutton 2 and Peter A. Keyel 1,* 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA;
[email protected] (M.E.);
[email protected] (B.M.);
[email protected] (N.N.);
[email protected] (E.B.) 2 Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA;
[email protected] (J.M.);
[email protected] (R.B.S.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-(806)-834-6248 Definition: The deoxyribonuclease 1 (Dnase1) family is a key family of endonucleases that degrades DNA. Loss of Dnase1 family function causes several diseases where the host’s immune system targets the host, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, hypocomplementemic urticarial vasculitis syndrome. Keywords: nuclease; lupus; ehrlichiosis; psoriasis; HUVS; NETs; cell-free DNA 1. History and Overview of the Dnase1 Family 1.1. Discovery of Dnase1 Family Members Deoxyribonuclease (Dnase) activity was described in bovine organs in the 1800s, and the proteins responsible for this activity have been characterized over the last century. In Citation: Engavale, M.; McCord, J.; the early 1900s, digestion of nucleic acids by liver, spleen, pancreas, and other organs was Mapp, B.; Nzimulinda, N.; Bengtson, investigated. As reviewed [1], the enzymatic activity was given a succession of names, E.; Sutton, R.B.; Keyel, P.A. Dnase1 including desoxyribonuclease, and determined to function optimally at neutral pH [2]. The Family in Autoimmunity.