3- thymidine

Copper(I) tends towards a tetrahedral coordination geometry in complexes. With 2,2 -bipyr-idine as a chelate ligand a distorted tetrahedral coordination with almost orthogonal ligands results. 2,2 -Bipyridine oligomers with flexible 6,6 -links therefore form double helices with two 2,2 -bipyridine units per copper(I) ion (J. M. Lehn, 1987,1988). J. M. Lehn (1990 U. Koert, 1990) has also prepared such helicates with nucleosides, e.g., thymidine, covalently attached to suitable spacers to obtain water-soluble double helix complexes, so-called inverted DNA , with internal positive charges and external nucleic bases. Cooperative effects lead preferentially to two identical strands in these helicates when copper(I) ions are added to a mixture of two different homooligomers. 

In this experiment students analyze an artificial RNA digest consisting of cytidine, uridine, thymidine, guanosine, and adenosine using a Cjg column and a mobile phase of 0.4% v/v triethylammonium acetate, 5% v/v methanol, and 94.6% v/v water. The chromatogram is recorded using a UV detector at a wavelength of 254 nm. 

More recendy, analogues having peptide-based linkers have been explored. A thymidine glycine copolymer (28) has been synthesized in high yield and forms a stable duplex with its cognate single-stranded partner (46). 

There appear also to be toxic effects. In animals, nitrous oxide has been shown to inactivate methionine synthetase which prevents the conversion of deoxyuridine to thymidine and thus has the potential for inducing megaloblastic anemia, leukopenia, and teratogenicity (44—46). A variety of epidemiologic surveys suggest positive correlations between exposure to nitrous oxide and spontaneous abortion in dental assistants (47). 

Administration of dipyridamole-AMP to mice 5—25 min after 1 Gy (100 rad) of TBI y-kradiation is also protective, as indicated by plasma thymidine levels and the amount of saline soluble polynucleotides in the thymus (112). Adding dipyridamole-AMP to in vitro kradiated suspensions of thymocytes enhances the rejoining of DNA strand breaks (112). These post-kradiation effects ate presumably mediated by the activation of extraceUulat adenosine receptors. 

With the aid of cytosine permease, flucytosine reaches the fungal cell where it is converted by cytosine deaminase into 5-fluorouracil [51-21-8]. Cytosine deaminase is not present in the host, which explains the low toxicity of 5-FC. 5-Fluorouracil is then phosphorylated and incorporated into RNA and may also be converted into 5-fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphate, which is a potent and specific inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase. As a result, no more thymidine nucleotides are formed, which in turn leads to a disturbance of the DNA-synthesis. These effects produce an inhibition of the protein synthesis and cell repHcation (1,23,24). 5-Fluorouracil caimot be used as an antimycotic. It is poorly absorbed by the fungus to begin with and is also toxic for mammalian cells. 

Amino-5-iodo-2, 5 -dideoxyuridine [56045-73-9] (13) C2H22IN2O4, was synthesized ia 1975 (27) and was found effective against herpes keratitis ia rabbits (28). This compound is markedly less cytotoxic than IdU, iadicating that it may have a safer and more specific mode of antiviral activity. A potential limitation of this group of nucleosides is their specificity, for they fail to inhibit all strains of herpes vimses. The specific antiviral activity of (13) is considered to be a result of the incorporation of the 5 -Ai-phosphate into both viral and host DNA in infected cells, but not into the DNA of normal cells. Phosphorylation of (13) occurs only in herpes vims-infected cells, brought about by a vims-induced thymidine kinase (29). 

Trifluridine, C2qH22F2N20, (5-trifluoromethyl-2 -deoxyuridine [70-00-8] F TdU, 14) was first prepared (30) in 1962. It is used for topical therapy of herpes vims-infected eyes. It is especially usefiil for treating infections that are resistant to IdU therapy. Like IdU, trifluridine is incorporated into DNA in place of thymidine in both infected and uninfected cells. But it is 10 times more potent than IdU against herpes keratitis in rabbits and 10 times more soluble in water. Trifluridine is also usefiil in treating human cytomegalovims (HCMV), but its toxicity to bone marrow may limit its clinical use. 

BVdU differs from IdU and F TdU by being specifically phosphorylated in the 5 -position by herpes simplex vims type-1 (HSV-1) induced thymidine kinase. This restricts its action to cells infected by HSV-1. It is less active against genital herpes (HSV-2). HSV-l-induced thymidine kinase converts BVdU to the corresponding 5 -mono- and diphosphate, but HSV-2-induced thymidine kinase stops at the stage of the 5 -phosphate of BVdU. Apparendy, cellular kinases phosphorylate BVdU-5 -diphosphate to the corresponding 5 -triphosphate, which inhibits HSV-1 DNA polymerase to a greater extent than similar cellular DNA polymerases. 

BVdU is degraded by thymidine phosphorylase more rapidly than the natural substrate, thymidine. This rapid enzymic degradation may present a problem in its clinical use. Moreover, herpes vimses develop resistance to BVdU, apparendy because of mutant vimses that have lower thymidine kinase activity. G. D. Seade has dropped further development of BVdU because of increased animal tumor incidence induced by prolonged dosing (1). 

This selective activity is due in large part to the HSV-encoded thymidine kinase. Clinical studies... 

FIAC also strongly inhibits HCMV and Epstein-Barr vims (EBV) in vitro the two vimses known not to induce a specific viral thymidine kinase for their repHcation. However, HCMV may stimulate cellular kinases that can anabolize FIAC to its 5 -triphosphate, which specifically inhibits the HCMV-encoded DNA polymerase. This selective activity suggests that FIAC should be evaluated against HCMV infections. FIAC-ttiphosphate incorporated into DNA has shown strong in vitro activity against the DNA polymerases of human hepatitis B vims (HBV) and of woodchuck hepatitis vims (WHV) (37). 

The antiviral mechanism of action of acyclovir has been reviewed (72). Acyclovir is converted to the monophosphate in herpes vims-infected cells (but only to a limited extent in uninfected cells) by viral-induced thymidine kinase. It is then further phosphorylated by host cell guanosine monophosphate (GMP) kinase to acyclovir diphosphate [66341 -17-1], which in turn is phosphorylated to the triphosphate by unidentified cellular en2ymes. Acyclovir triphosphate [66341 -18-2] inhibits HSV-1 viral DNA polymerase but not cellular DNA polymerase. As a result, acyclovir is 300 to 3000 times more toxic to herpes vimses in an HSV-infected cell than to the cell itself. Studies have shown that a once-daily dose of acyclovir is effective in prevention of recurrent HSV-2 genital herpes (1). HCMV, on the other hand, is relatively uninhibited by acyclovir. 

Moderate in vivo antiherpes vims activity was demonstrated by 9-P-Dxylofuranosylguanine [27462-39-1] (xylo-G, 38), C qH N O, and the 5 -mono-and 3, 5 -cycHc phosphates of (38), although none was as active as ara-A (89). Generally, guanine base-modified analogues of acyclovir are less active than acyclovir because they are not readily phosphorylated by herpes thymidine kinase. 

A recent example is the substrate analogue thymidine 5 -[a,P-iaiido]triphosphate [141171-20-2] (TMPNPP) (2) which competitively inhibits the human iaimunodeficiency vims-1 (HIV-1) reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT) with a iC value of 2.4 micromolar ]lM) (9). The substrate is thymidine 5 -triphosphate... 

Thymine was isolated from hydrolyzates of bovine thymus or spleen in 1893, several years before uracil, but it was not made synthetically until 1901. Unlike uracil, it comes not from ribonucleic but from deoxyribonucleic acids via thymidine (3-D-2 -deoxyribofuranosidothymine). 

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