DNA-polymerases in neuron and glial cells of developing and aging mouse brain.

DNA-polymerases alpha and beta were studied in neuron and glial cells of mouse during developing and aging brain. Maximum activity of alpha-enzyme was found to be prenatal, though a very low but significant level could be detected in aging brain. Furthermore, this pattern was found to be dependent upon cell types that shift in peak activity just before birth in glial cells in contrast to neurons. DNA-polymerase-beta remained high throughout the period studied though a second peak of activity was also observed at day 30 in both cell types, suggesting a possible role in DNA-replication in addition to DNA-repair. It was found that beta-enzyme from glial cells behaves differently than the same enzyme from neurons.