Ribonuclease pancreatic

RNASE1 encodes ribonuclease pancreatic, a 156-amino-acid endonuclease that catalyzes cleavage of RNA on the 3' side of pyrimidine nucleotides in both single-stranded and double-stranded RNA (UniProt: P07998). The protein functions as a general ribonucleolytic enzyme, though its primary tissue of origin is pancreatic acinar cells. No specific pathway annotation or baseline disease association is documented in UniProt.

In Alzheimer's disease, RNASE1 shows consistent downregulation in post-mortem AD brain tissue compared to age-matched controls. Analysis via TMT-labeled proteomics across four subcellular fractions (P2, P3, S2, S3) yielded a mean log2 fold-change of −0.65, indicating modest but reproducible reduction (Chaparral AD proteomics). The direction tag (ad:direction:down) reflects this consistent downregulation pattern across fractions. The biological significance of reduced ribonucleolytic activity in AD pathology remains unclear and warrants further investigation.