Thioguanine is a purine antimetabolite prodrug closely related to mercaptopurine and similarly inhibits purine metabolism. The thioguanine pathway is shown as a part of the mercaptopurine pathway. Thioguanine exerts cytotoxic effects via incorporation of thiodeoxyguanosine triphosphate into DNA and thioguanosine triphosphate into RNA and inhibition of Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1, which induces apoptosis of activated T cells. Once in a cell, thioguanine is converted to thioguanosine monophosphate by hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Thioguanosine monophosphate is then phosphorylated to thioguanosine diphosphate, which is converted via a thiodeoxyguanosine diphosphate intermediate to thiodeoxyguanosine triphosphate. Thiodeoxyguanosine triphosphate is incorporated into DNA causing cytotoxicity. Thioguanosine diphosphate is also converted to thioguanosine triphosphate which is incorporated into RNA. The thioguanosine triphosphate metabolite also inhibits Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1, a plasma membrane-associated small GTPase that regulates cellular processes, inducing apoptosis in activated T cells.

Thioguanine Pathway (old) References