Molecular size and fidelity of DNA polymerase alpha from the regenerating liver of the rat.

DNA-dependent DNA polymerase has been extracted from the soluble cytoplasmic fraction of regenerating rat liver and purified using phosphocellulose and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Glycerol gradient analysis showed that the enzyme was predominantly DNA polymerase alpha, having a sedimentation coefficient of 10.5 S at low ionic strength and of 6--8 S at higher salt concentrations. The fidelity of purified enzyme was assessed using the co-polymer poly(dA-dT).poly(dA-dT) as a template for DNA synthesis. For both the aggregated (10.5 S) and disaggregated (6--8 S) forms, fidelities in the range of 1 wrong base in 100,000--150,000 complementary bases were obtained.