Mammalian deoxyribonucleases I are classified into three types: pancreas, parotid, and pancreas-parotid (mixed), based on differences in their tissue concentrations.

Deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) activities were measured in 14 different tissues from humans and 5 other mammals (bovine, pig, rabbit, rat, and mouse) by using the single radial enzyme diffusion (SRED) method, which is a sensitive and nonradioactive assay for nucleases. The results indicated that these species are classifiable into three groups on the basis of their different tissue distributions of DNase I. In human and pig, the pancreas showed the highest activity of DNase I; in rat and mouse, the parotid glands showed the highest activity; and in bovine and rabbit, both pancreas and parotid glands showed high activity. Therefore we designated human and pig DNase I as pancreas type, rat and mouse DNase I as parotid type, and bovine and rabbit DNase I as pancreas-parotid (or mixed) type. DNase I of the pancreas type was more sensitive to low pH than the other types. DNase I of pancreas type is secreted into the intestinal tract under neutral pH conditions, whereas the other types are secreted from the parotid gland and have to pass through the very acidic conditions in the stomach. Differences in the tissue distribution and acid sensitivity of mammalian DNases I may provide important information about their digestive function from the evolutionary perspective.