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The RNase H2 ribonuclease complex is a heterotrimeric endoribonuclease responsible for the major ribonuclease H activity in mammalian cells. In mouse, the complex is encoded by 3 genes located on chromosomes 8 (Rnaseh2a), 14 (Rnaseh2b) and 19 (Rnaseh2c). This enzyme specifically cleaves the 3’O-Phosphate bond of RNA in a DNA/RNA hybrids to produce 5’ phosphate and 3’hydroxyl ends.

Biological role

Ribonucleases H are the only known enzymes, able to degrade the RNA strand of a DNA/RNA hybrid in a sequence-nonspecific way. There are two types of RNase H (RNases H1 and RNases H2) classified according to their sequence conservation and substrate preference. Currently, three types of RNA/DNA hybrids are known: simple RNA/DNA duplexes (Figure 1A), RNA•DNA/DNA hybrids (Figure 1B), and DNA•RNAfew•DNA/DNA hybrids (Figure 1C). RNases H2 is totally able to cleave a single ribonucleotide embedded in a double strand DNA (DNA• RNAfew •DNA/DNA type) when RNases H1 require at least 4 ribonucleotides. This ability and their high expression in proliferating cells suggest that RNases H2 are involved in DNA repair and replication.

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Indeed, ribonucleotides are wrongly incorporated into DNA during DNA replication at a frequency of about 2 ribonucleotides per kb. With such frequency, these errors are by far the most abundant threat of DNA damaging. Hence, a correction is essential to the preservation of DNA integrity: the most common correction mechanism involves RNases H2 and is called Ribonucleotide Excision Repair (RER). The incorporation of ribonucleotides in DNA produce DNA•RNAfew•DNA/DNA hybrids from which the few misincorporated ribonucleotides can be removed by an RNase H2.

This repair activity is guided by the interaction between C-terminus of RNase H2B protein and the DNA clamp PCNA. This interaction occurs through a hydrophobic conserved peptide motif called the PCNA interaction peptide PIP (PIP-box: Residues 294 to 301 MKSIDTFF of H2B protein) that interacts with a hydrophobic groove near the PCNA C-terminus. This interaction allows RNase H2 to scan DNA for misincorporated ribonucleotides which makes the Ribonucleotide Excision Repair more efficient.

Furthermore, in vitro studies have shown that RNases H2 is likely to be involved in the removal of RNA primer from Okazaki fragment produced during the synthesis of the lagging strand in DNA replication since Okazaki fragment are RNA•DNA/DNA hybrids (Figure 1B).

RNases H2 activity is crucial in mammalian cells, for instance a mutation in human RNase H2 causes Aicardi-Goutières syndrome. This syndrome is an auto-inflammatory disorder that may be the consequence of an increased production of incorrect nucleic acid by-products during DNA replication.

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Structural highlights

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