Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
6-mercaptopurine
References
Britannica AI Icon

6-mercaptopurine

chemical compound
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

6-mercaptopurine is an antimetabolite chemical compound with the formula C5H4N4S. It interferes with the metabolism of purine bases and the biosynthesis of nucleic acids.1

Developed in the 1950s by George Herbert Hitchings and Gertrude B. Elion, 6-mercaptopurine (also known as 6MP) became an important treatment for leukemia. Hitchings and Elion were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for their work in developing drugs that treat major diseases.2

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. mercaptopurine
  2. George Herbert Hitchings

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.