Deoxyribonuclease

A deoxyribonuclease (DNAse, for short) is any enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of phosphodiester linkages in the DNA backbone. Thus, deoxyribonucleases are one type of nuclease. A wide variety of deoxyribonucleases are known, which differ in their substrate specificities, chemical mechanisms, and biological functions.