Abstract
Summary
The antileukemic drug, 6-mer-captopurine is cytotoxic only after it is converted to the 5′-nucleotide, thioinosinic acid. When 14C-thioinosinic acid was incubated with extracts from both MP sensitive and MP resistant leukocytes a portion of the drug was converted to inosine and hypoxanthine. The conversion of thioinosinate back to the free base was also observed in some preparations, but not all. The conversion of thioinosinic acid to IMP and hypoxanthine appeared to be greater in extracts from drug resistant leukocytes than in extracts from sensitive cells. There was no apparent relationship between resistance and the conversion of thioinosinic acid back to free 6-mer-captopurine.
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