On the type of DNA polymerase activity in neuronal, astroglial, and oligodendroglial cell fractions from young, adult, and old rat brains.

DNA polymerase activity in isolated neuronal, astroglial, and oligodendroglial cell-enriched fractions from rat brains of different ages was measured. Attempts were made to distinguish the total activity into beta and alpha polymerase types making use of inhibitors like ddTTP and aphidicolin. The results indicate that at all the ages studied (16th day embryonic and 1, 225, and greater than 540 days postnatal), neurons possess the highest polymerase activity in comparison with other types of cells. Further, throughout the postnatal life the polymerase present in neuronal cells is of the beta type and this activity remains fairly constant from adult to old age. In contrast, both astroglial and oligodendroglial cells at adult and old stages of life appear to possess other type(s) of polymerase activity in addition to the predominant beta polymerase. It is inferred that neurons, being postmitotic, are equipped with efficient DNA-repair machinery throughout their life span.