Ribonuclease A12 (RNASE12)

RNASE12 belongs to the pancreatic ribonuclease family. Ribonuclease A (RNase A) is a pancreatic ribonuclease that cleaves single-stranded RNA. Bovine pancreatic RNase A is one of the classic model systems of protein science.

RNase A is a relatively small protein. It can be characterized as a two-layer α + β protein that is folded in half to resemble a taco, with a deep cleft for binding the RNA substrate. The first layer is composed of three alpha helices from the N-terminal half of the protein. The second layer consist of three β-hairpins arranged in two β-sheets. The hairpins 61-74 and 105-124 form a four-stranded, antiparallel β-sheet that lies on helix 3. The longest β-hairpin 79-104 mates with a short β-strand to form a three-stranded, antiparallel β-sheet that lies on helix 2.