Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. - 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine

5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine is also known as EdU, 5-EdU, and 2′-Deoxy-5-ethynyluridine. 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine is an extensively used nucleoside analog of thymidine used as a probe for DNA synthesis. 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine is known as an toxic anti-metabolite, which potentially causes DNA instabiliy, necrosis and cell-cycle arrest; therefore 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine is often used for short-term DNA synthesis in tissue culture and living organisms where prolonged cell survival is not required. 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine can also be used to monitor de novo DNA synthesis through click chemistry. Like 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (sc-290815), 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine is incorporated into DNA during active DNA synthesis and can then be detected using a fluorescent azide probe and copper catalysis using 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition.