No abstract

The thymidine derivatives araAzT, dTTP(3′N3), TTP(3′NH2), and araTTP(3′N3), were studied as inhibitors of the reverse transcription taking place within endogenous retroviral A‐type particles, where retroviral RNAs served as templates and primers. dTTP(3′N3) was shown to be the most efficient inhibitor of retroviral particle reverse transcription. Termination of DNA chain elongation is the basic mechanism of the inhibitory action of dTTP(3′N3). The compound has a very low inhibitory effect on mammalian DNA‐dependent DNA polymerases α, β and γ.