The cytotoxic eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) has ribonuclease activity

Urban Gullberg, Bengt Widegren, Ulfur Arnason, Arne Egesten, Inge Olsson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) is a specific cytotoxic constituent of granules. In this work we demonstrated that ECP has a ribonuclease activity. Purified ECP was resolved by ion exchange chromatography into subfractions, which all showed ribonuclease activity. Another eosinophil granule protein, EPX, identical with eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) had a 125-fold higher RNase activity than ECP. ECP may exert its cytotoxic effects on parasites and cells because of its extreme basicity alone or it may be internalized and act by degrading mRNA.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1239-1242
JournalBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Volume139
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 1986

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • Medical and Health Sciences

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