Deoxythymidine Monophosphate (dTMP)

Deoxythymidine monophosphate is a nucleotide that is found in DNA. It is an ester of phosphoric acid with the nucleoside thymidine. dTMP consists of the phosphate group, the pentose sugar ribose, and the nucleobase deoxythymine.

where Thd is deoxythymidine, ATP is (energy-rich) adenosine 5’-triphosphate, TMP is deoxythymidine 5’-phosphate and ADP is adenosine 5’-diphosphate.

Thymidine kinases have a key function in the synthesis of DNA and thereby in cell division, as they are part of the unique reaction chain to introduce deoxythymidine into the DNA. Deoxythymidine is present in the body fluids as a result of degradation of DNA from food and from dead cells. Thymidine kinase is required for the action of many antiviral drugs.