Demettre, Edith, Bastide, Lionel, D'Haese, Anne et al. · The Journal of biological chemistry · 2002 · DOI
Researchers found that immune cells from ME/CFS patients show abnormally high breakdown of a protein called RNase L, which normally helps fight viral infections. Instead of remaining whole, this protein is being cut into smaller pieces (37 kDa and 30 kDa fragments), yet these fragments can still work together to fight infections. This abnormal protein breakdown pattern could potentially be used as a marker to help diagnose ME/CFS.
This work provides mechanistic insight into potential immune dysregulation in ME/CFS by identifying abnormal RNase L proteolysis—a protein crucial for antiviral defense. Identifying biomarkers like RNase L fragments could improve diagnosis and help researchers understand whether aberrant protease activity contributes to ME/CFS pathophysiology. Understanding the functional consequences of RNase L truncation may reveal therapeutic targets.
This study does not prove that RNase L proteolysis causes ME/CFS or establish whether this finding is specific to ME/CFS patients versus other conditions. It is a mechanistic description of a biochemical abnormality in cells from CFS patients, but does not demonstrate clinical causation or validate the 37-kDa fragment as a diagnostic tool. The study also does not clarify whether protease elevation is a primary defect or a secondary consequence.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Demettre, Edith, Bastide, Lionel, D'Haese, Anne, De Smet, Karen, De Meirleir, Kenny, Tiev, Kiet P, et al. (2002). Ribonuclease L proteolysis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of chronic fatigue syndrome patients.. The Journal of biological chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M201263200
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-demettre-2002-ribonuclease-proteolysis,
author = {Demettre, Edith and Bastide, Lionel and D'Haese, Anne and De Smet, Karen and De Meirleir, Kenny and Tiev, Kiet P and Englebienne, Patrick and Lebleu, Bernard},
title = {Ribonuclease L proteolysis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of chronic fatigue syndrome patients.},
journal = {The Journal of biological chemistry},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1074/jbc.M201263200},
note = {PubMed: 12118002},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/demettre-2002-ribonuclease-proteolysis},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/demettre-2002-ribonuclease-proteolysis
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