Inhibitor analysis of calf thymus DNA polymerases α, δ and ϵ

Abstract
Quantitative effects of inhibitors of the replicative DNA polymerases (pol) α, δ and ϵ from calf thymus are reported under similar assay conditions. Carbonyldiphosphonate was a competitive inhibitor of pols δ and ϵ, with 4- to 6-fold selectivity compared to pol α. Aphidicolin inhibited pols α and δ with 6- to 10-fold selectivity compared to pol ϵ. The ‘butylphenyl’ nucleotides, BuPdGTP and BuAdATP, inhibited pol α with at least 1000-fold selectivity compared to pols δ and ϵ. The use of these inhibitors under similar assay conditions permits the discrimination of the three enzymes