Penicillamine

**Semantic type:** Amino Acid, Peptide, or Protein|Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** A beta dimethyl analog of the amino acid cysteine. As a degradation product of penicillin antibiotics, penicillamine chelates with heavy metals and increases their urinary excretion. Possessing antineoplastic properties, penicillamine induces apoptosis by a p53-mediated mechanism and inhibits angiogenesis by chelating with copper, a cofactor for angiogenesis. (NCI04)

**Synonyms:** - .beta.,.beta.-Dimethylcysteine - 3-Mercapto-D-valine - Alpha-amino-beta-methyl-beta-mercaptobutyric Acid - Atamir - Beta,Beta-dimethylcysteine - Beta-thiovaline - Cuprenil - Cuprenil - Cuprimine - Cuprimine - Cupripen - D-Mercaptovaline - D-Penicillamine - Depamine - Depen - Distamine - Distamine - Kelatin - Mercaptyl - Mercaptyl - Metalcaptase - Metalcaptase - PENICILLAMINE - Pendramine - Perdolat - Perdolat - Sufortan - Trolovol - Trolovol - penicillamine