Objective To determine if DNA excision repair enzymes oxoguanine glycosylase 1 (OGG1) and xeroderma pigmentosum group F protein (XPF) are involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) in a cell model. Methods PC12 cells were treated with 1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridine ion (MPP+) for various periods of time to induce oxidative DNA damage. MTT assay was used to determine cell viability. Immunocytochemistry with antibody against 8-hydroxy-2'- deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) was used to evaluate oxidative DNA damage. Immunoblotting was used to detect the protein levels of OGG1 and XPF. Results MPP+ treatment (1 mmol/L) for 18 h and 24 h reduced cell viability to 78.6% and 70.3% of the control, respectively, in a time-dependent way. MPP+ increased the immunoreactivity of 8-oxodG in the cytoplasm at 3 h and in the nucleus at 24 h of treatment. With the treatment of MPP+, the expression of OGG1 was significantly increased at 1 h, reaching a peak at 3 h, and then it was decreased at 24 h, as compared to that with vehicle treatment. The same effect was exerted on XPF level, except that the XPF level reached a peak at 18 h of MPP+ treatment. Moreover, the maximally-increased protein level of OGG1 by MPP+ was approximately 2-fold higher than that of XPF. Conclusion MPP+ treatment could time- dependently induce increases in OGG1 and XPF expressions in PC12 cells. Also, this study indicates that the base and nucleotide excision repair pathways may be compensatorily activated in the early stage of pathogenesis in the cells after MPP+ treatment.