Digestion of Nucleic Acids

Several nucleases present  in  the  pancreatic juice  like RNAase and  DNAase  digest various nucleic acids- These enzymes  are endonucleases which hydrolyze internal phosphodiester bonds which are  located more centrally in the nucleic acid. They form shorter length  chains with  3'-hydroxyl  and  5'-phosphoryl  or  5'-hydroxyl  and  3'- phosphoryl terminus. Some act on  both  the strands, whereas,  others can  hydrolyze only single strand  of  nucleic acids.  Phosphatases  present  in  the  intestinal  juice remove phosphate from hexophosphates, glycerophosphates and nucleotides derived from the food.