Antimetabolites In Biochemistry, Biology And Medicine. Proceedings Of A Symposium On Antimetabolites In Biochemistry, Biology And Medicine, Held In Prague, Czechoslovakia, July 10–12, 1978

P r o c e e d i n g s o f the 12th F E B S M e e t i n g General Editor: S. Rapoport, Berlin Volume 51 GENE FUNCTION Volume 52• PROTEIN: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION A N D INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Volume 53 PROCESSING A N D TURNOVER OF PROTEINS A N D ORGANELLES IN THE CELL Volume 54l· CYCLIC NUCLEOTIDES A N D PROTEIN PHOSPHORYLATION IN CELL REGULATION Volume 55 REGULATION OF SECONDARY PRODUCT A N D P L A N T HORMONE METABOLISM Volume 56I MOLECULAR DISEASES ANTIMETABOLITES IN BIOCHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY A N D MEDICINE Proceedings of a symposium on Antimetabolites in Biochemistry, Biology and Medicine, held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, July 10-12, 1978 Editors J. SKODA, Praha P. LANGEN • Praha PERGAMON PRESS OXFORD · NEW YORK · TORONTO · SYDNEY · PARIS · FRANKFURT U.K. U.S.A. CANADA Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 0X3 OBW, England Pergamon Press Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, New York 10523, U.S.A. Pergamon of Canada, Suite 104, 150 Consumers Road, Willowdale, Ontario M2J 1P9, Canada AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., P.O. Box 544, Potts Point, N.S.W. 2011, Australia FRANCE Pergamon Press SARL, 24 rue des Ecoles, 75240 Paris, Cedex 05, France Pergamon Press GmbH, 6242 Kronberg-Taunus, Pferdstrasse 1, Federal Republic of Germany FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF G E R M A N Y Copyright © 1979 Pergamon Press Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publishers. First edition 1979 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Symposium on Antimetabolites in Biochemistry, Biology and Medicine, Prague, 1978 Antimetabolites in biochemistry, biology and medicine. 1. Antimetabolites - Congresses 1. Title II. Skoda, J III. Langen, Peter IV. Federation of European Biochemical Societies 574.Γ924 QP801.A65 78-41194 ISBN 0-08-024384-3 In order to make this volume available as economically and as rapidly as possible the authors' typescripts have been reproduced in their original forms. This method unfortunately has its typographical limitations but it is hoped that they in no way distract the reader. Printed and bound at William Clowes & Sons Limited Beccles and London INTRODUCTORY REMARKS It is a real pleasure to be able to welcome in Prague the representatives of the great family of workers in the field of antimetabolites. Under the sponsorship and with a subsidy of the FEBS, the Czechoslovak Biochemical Society, the Biochemical Society of the German Democratic Republic, the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and the Central Institute for Molecular Biology of the German Academy of Sciences have organized this meeting which should consider it as its main objective to review and summarize our present knowledge in the various fields where antimetabolites are employed, to provide mutual information about the latest findings, to outline the perspectives of further research and, last but not least, to critically evaluate the possibilities of employing antimetabolites for the well-being of mankind. It would be bringing coals to Newcastle if I should speak about the importance of our work. We are all proud of the fact that the results so far obtained have provided valuable tools for biochemical and biological research and that many antimetabolites have assumed a permanent place in human and veterinary therapy. The perspectives of further research of antimetabolites are a frequently discussed problem. Many authors wou