Cytosine glycols are intermediate unstable products of cytosine oxidation. These, in turn, are thought to undergo deamination to uracil glycol, dehydration to 5-hydroxycytosine, or both deamination and dehydration to 5-hydroxyuracil. Its name indicates its major structural nature: a glycol derivative of cytosine, as the apparent 1,2-dihydroxylation of its alkene region.
The lifetime of cytosine glycols are enhanced in double-stranded DNA compared to the free nucleoside.
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