Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin is an
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...
that in humans is encoded by the ''RNASE2''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...
.
The
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
encoded by this gene is found in
eosinophil granulocyte
Eosinophils, sometimes called eosinophiles or, less commonly, acidophils, are a variety of white blood cells (WBCs) and one of the immune system components responsible for combating multicellular parasites and certain infections in vertebrates. A ...
s. It is closely related to the
eosinophil cationic protein (''RNASE3'') from which it diverged ~50 million years ago after the split between the old world and the new world monkeys.
It is relatively neutral and has cytotoxic properties. It is capable of reducing the activity of single strand RNA viruses in culture through its enzymatic activity. It also serves as an attractant to immune cells.
See also
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Ribonuclease A
Pancreatic ribonuclease family (, ''RNase'', ''RNase I'', ''RNase A'', ''pancreatic RNase'', ''ribonuclease I'', ''endoribonuclease I'', ''ribonucleic phosphatase'', ''alkaline ribonuclease'', ''ribonuclease'', ''gene S glycoproteins'', ''Ceratit ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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PDBe-KBprovides an overview of all the structure information available in the PDB for Human Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin
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