Merck, I4125-5G, Inosine

General description
Inosine is a non-canonical nucleotide majorly present as monophosphate. It has ability to base pair with deoxythymidine, deoxyadenosine and deoxyguanosine. Incorporation of inosine in place of guanine modulates translational events. Inosine has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective functionality. Inosine is prescribed as a therapeutic supplement for nerve injury, inflammation and oxidative stress. It modulates biological processes through adenosine receptors. Its enhances neurite outgrowth in depressive disorders via adenosine receptors. Inosine is also used for treating sepsis in infections.
Application
Inosine has been used:

• as a medium supplement in nucleotide rescue experiments in pancreatic cancer cell lines.
• as a component in holidic (synthetic) medium and in larval two-choice preference assay.
• as a reference standard in mass spectroscopy.

Biochem/physiol Actions
Inosine is a potent stimulator of nerve growth factor (NGF) induced neurite outgrowth. The elevated levels of inosine in brain following injury are associated with the increased expression proteins related to axonal regeneration and growth. Mice given inosine demonstrated enhanced recovery of fine motor control following ischemic brain damage. Inosine may be used in studies of the process A-to-I RNA editing.