Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)

BrdU next to the deoxynucleoside deoxythymidine (dT) it can replace during DNA synthesis

Bromodeoxyuridine (5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine, BrdU) is a synthetic nucleoside analogue of thymidine. BrdU is commonly used to detect cell proliferation.

Mechanism

BrdU is phosphorylated by cells to BrdUTP. This precursor is incorporated into newly synthesised DNA during S phase instead of deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP). It can then be detected with an anti-BrdU antibody coupled to a fluorophore or an enzyme. Other detection methods include BrdU quenching of DNA fluorophores and selective photolysis of BrdU-containing DNA.

Examples

• BrdU application in E16 mouse embryos

See also

• Fundamental bioengineering course notes mention BrdU in the introduction
• bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), deoxyuridine (dU), deoxythymidine (dT) at the Wikipedia