5'-Methylthioadenosine (MTA) is a naturally occurring nucleoside which is degraded by MTA phosphorylase (MTAase) to adenine and methylthioribose-1-phosphate in all normal mammalian cells. These products of the phosphorylytic cleavage of MTA are recycled to the nucleotide pool and methionine, respectively. Thus, supplemental MTA could theoretically be utilized by MTAase-containing cells as a sou...
