5-Bromouridine (Synonyms: (–)-5-Bromouridine, BrU, BrUrd, NSC 38296)

5-Bromouridine is a brominated analog of the nucleoside uridine .¹ It can be incorporated into RNA and subsequently detected by antibodies against bromodeoxyuridine .² 5-Bromouridine decreases the viability of HL-60 and MOLT-4 cells (LC₅₀s = 10 and 20 μM, respectively). It induces apoptosis and halts the cell cycle at the S phase in HL-60 cells. It is photoreactive, and UV irradiation has been used to cross-link RNA containing 5-bromouridine to proteins in the study of of RNA-protein interactions.^1,3 5-Bromouridine can also be incorporated into RNA using 5-bromouridine 5'-triphosphate .

1.Tanner, N.K., Hanna, M.M., and Abelson, J.Binding interactions between yeast tRNA ligase and a precursor transfer ribonucleic acid containing two photoreactive uridine analoguesBiochemistry27(24)8852-8861(1988) 2.Li, X., Patel, R., Melamed, M.R., et al.The cell cycle effects and induction of apoptosis by 5-bromouridine in cultures of human leukaemic MOLT-4 and HL-60 cell lines and mitogen-stimulated normal lymphocytesCell Prolif.27(6)307-319(1994) 3.Gott, J.M., Willis, M.C., Koch, T.H., et al.A specific, UV-induced RNA-protein cross-link using 5-bromouridine-substituted RNABiochemistry30(25)6290-6295(1991)