Background:

Zebularine, a chemically stable cytidine analog containing a 2-(1H)-pyridimidinone ring, is an effective DNA methylation inhibitor which can act with DNA methyltransferases to form a covalent complex. It has been shown to cause demethylation and reactivation of a silenced and hypermethylated p16 gene. Zebularine is able to induce the myogenic phenotype in 10T1/2 cells, which is a phenomenon unique to DNA methylation inhibitors. zebularine can act as a pro-drug leading to inhibition of DNA methylation and gene activation in fungal and mammalian cells. It was the only slightly cytotoxic to T24 cellsin vitro. Zebularine is stable in aqueous solution up to a pH of 12.

Reference

[1].C.B. Yoo, J.C. Cheng and P.A. Jones. Zebularine: a new drug for epigenetic therapy. Biochemical Society Transactions. 2004; 32(6): 910 – 912.
[2].Jonathan C. Cheng, Cindy B. Matsen, Felicidad A. Gonzales, Wei Ye, Sheldon Greer, Victor E. Marquez, Peter A. Jones, Eric U. Selker. Inhibition of DNA Methylation and Reactivation of Silenced Genes by Zebularine. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2003; 95(5): 399 – 409.