dUMPdUTP

dUMPdUTP is not a standard chemical name; it is occasionally used informally to refer to the two related nucleotides deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) and deoxyuridine triphosphate (dUTP), or to the interplay between them in nucleotide metabolism. dUMP is deoxyuridine monophosphate, an intermediate in the pathway that makes thymidylate for DNA replication. It is the substrate used by thymidylate synthase to form deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP), which is then phosphorylated to dTTP and incorporated into DNA.

dUTP is deoxyuridine triphosphate; it can be a source of uracil in DNA if it is incorporated during replication. Because uracil is not a normal base in DNA, cells regulate nucleotide pools to minimize dUTP relative to dTTP. The enzyme dUTPase hydrolyzes dUTP to dUMP and inorganic pyrophosphate, keeping dUTP concentrations low and providing dUMP for thymidylate synthesis.

Disruption of dUTPase or imbalances in dUTP/dTTP have been associated with genomic instability in various organisms. In bacteria and parasites, dUTPase and thymidylate synthase are targets for antimicrobial or anticancer strategies. The concept of dUMPdUTP thus captures two facets of nucleotide metabolism: the production of thymidylate for DNA synthesis and the prevention of uracil incorporation into DNA.

See also thymidylate synthase, dUTPase, uracil-DNA glycosylase, nucleotide metabolism.