The DNASE2 gene (DNASE2 stands for "Deoxyribonuclease 2, Lysosomal") is a protein-coding gene located at chromosome 19p13.13. The DNASE2 gene encodes a member of the so-called DNase family. DNASE2 is localized in the lysosome and hydrolyzes DNA under acidic conditions. The enzyzm plays an important role in the degradation of nuclear DNA in cellular apoptosis . It is necessary for proper fetal development and for final erythropoiesis in the fetal liver, where it degrades nuclear DNA ejected from erythroid progenitor cells.
Two codominant alleles have been characterized:
- DNASE2*L (low activity) and
- DNASE2*H (high activity), which differ in one nucleotide in the promoter region.