Bromodeoxyuridine

Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) variously abbreviated as BrdU, BudR, and BrdUrd, is a synthetic thymidine analog that gets incorporated into the DNA of dividing cells during the S-phase of the cell cycle and has a long history of heavy use in molecular and cytokinetic studies (1).

The thymidine analogue bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) has a long, colorful history of heavy use in molecular and cytokinetic studies (1, 2). BrDU is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA only in S-phase cells, and then immunocytochemically detected with BrDU antibodies. This method allows for extremely accurate and comprehensive comparative studies of a variety of cells ranging from normal to neoplastic.