A specific inhibitor for human desoxyribonuclease and an inhibitor of the lupus erythematosus cell phenomenon from leucocytes.

In speculating upon the probable role of desoxyribonuclease (DNase) in the depolymerization of desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which characterizes (1) the "lupus erythematosus (L.E.) cell" (2), we have suggested (3), as have Klemperer and his associates (4), that an increased serum enzyme activity, potentiation of an intracellular DNase, or destruction of an intracellular inhibitor of DNase by a serum factor, might be responsible. In a previous communication (5) we reported evidence which excludes the serum DNase from responsibility for the phenomenon. Studies on the interaction of leucocytes and serum, in an approach to the alternative possibilities, disclosed the presence of a specific intracellular inhibitor of human serum DNase and an inhibitor of the "L.E. cell" phenomenon (6, 7). In the present paper, we shall report upon some of the characteristics of these factors.