Low levels of DNA excision repair in undamaged bovine lymphocytes

Quiescent and concanavalin A-stimulated bovine lymphocytes were subjected to a buoyant density analysis used in excision repair studies. Despite neutral and alkaline rebands to remove replicative contamination, the CsCl gradient profiles of DNA isolated from unstimulated lymphocytes given a 6-h labelling period revealed a small amount of radioactivity in the normal-density region which is indicative of an excision repair process. It amounted to the incorporation of 8,000-20,000 molecules of thymidine per lymphocyte. In a 12-h labelling period the extent of repair incorporation was twice that measured in a 6-h period. The extent of this repair incorporation was not altered significantly during the initial 6 or 12 h of lectin stimulation when DNA-strand breaks normally present in the unstimulated cells are repaired. The same amount of repair activity was found whether the measurements were made on the same day that the lymphocytes were isolated or on the next day following an overnight incubation of the cells in culture medium. These observations indicate that lymphocytes display a spontaneous excision repair activity that proceeds continuously and at a constant rate.