Abstract
It has been known that several RNases occur in various tissues of vertebrates, although the role in the RNA metabolism of individual RNase is obscure. To study a possible mechanism involved in the regulation of RNase activity in the muscle during bullfrog metamorphosis, it was attempted to characterize a RNase from bullfrog muscle showing its activity in neutral region.
The neutral RNase in the cytosol fraction from bullfrog muscle occurs in two forms, one is a free form and the other a complex (latent form) of the RNase and its inhibitor. As compared with those of bullfrog liver, it was found that in the muscle cytosol fraction the greater part of the RNase is present as the complex and an excess amount of the RNase inhibitor as a free form. The partially purified RNase from the muscle cytosol fraction resembled to that of the liver in enzymatic properties.
