Thymidine

Category: nucleoside

Aliases: Thymine deoxyriboside, Deoxythymidine

Pharmacological Mechanism

DNA-specific nucleoside (unlike uridine in RNA). Salvaged by thymidine kinase (TK1, TK2) → dTMP → dTDP → dTTP for DNA replication. TK activity is an oncology biomarker. Target of antineoplastic / antiviral analogs: AZT (zidovudine), stavudine are dideoxy-thymidine analogs.

Target Organ Systems