RNase H is an endonuclease that cleaves the RNA strand of an RNA/DNA hybrid in a sequence non-specific manner
This family includes bacterial ribonuclease H (RNase H) enzymes. RNases are divided into two major families, Type 1 and Type 2, based on amino acid sequence similarities and biochemical properties. RNase H is an endonuclease that cleaves the RNA strand of an RNA/DNA hybrid in a sequence non-specific manner in the presence of divalent cations. RNase H is widely present in various organisms, including bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Most prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes contain multiple RNase H genes. Despite the lack of amino acid sequence homology, type 1 and type 2 RNase H share a main-chain fold and steric configurations of the four acidic active-site residues and have the same catalytic mechanism and functions in cells. RNase H is involved in DNA replication, repair and transcription. One of the important functions of RNase H is to remove Okazaki fragments during DNA replication. RNase H inhibitors have been explored as an anti-HIV drug target because RNase H inactivation inhibits reverse transcription.