Hydroxyurea inhibits thymidine kinase activity in regenerating rat liver
Prabhakar, V.; Subrahmanyam, K.; Subba Rao, K.V.; Subba Rao, K.
Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics 24(1): 29-33
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0301-1208 PMID: 3623594 Document Number: 293857
Hydroxyurea, when injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 1 mg/g body wt, inhibited thymidine kinase activity in regenerating rat liver. The inhibition was time dependent and both soluble and mitochondrial thymidine kinase activities were significantly inhibited when the drug was administered at 24 hr and the animals were killed at 25 hr after partial hepatectomy. However, under similar conditions, the activities of other enzymes concerned with DNA metabolism, viz DNA polymerase and acid and alkaline DNases, were found unaffected. Addition of hydroxyurea in vitro had no effect on any of these enzymes. It is suggested that hydroxyurea, apart from its well-known action on ribonucleotide reductase, has another target, i.e., thymidine kinase.