nucleoside, a structural subunit of nucleic acids, the heredity-controlling components of all living cells, consisting of a sugar molecule linked to a nitrogen-containing organic ring compound. In the most important nucleosides, the sugar is either ribose or deoxyribose, and the nitrogen-containing compound is either a pyrimidine (cytosine, thymine, or uracil) or a purine (adenine or guanine).
Nucleosides are usually obtained by chemical or enzymatic decomposition of nucleic acids. Details of the structures of several natural nucleosides determined in the period 1891–1911 include the identities of the sugars and the nitrogenous compounds, the size of the ring of atoms in the sugar molecules, and the point of attachment between the two components. Chemical syntheses of adenosine and guanosine were described in 1948; since that time there has been rapid progress in the synthesis of nucleosides and their combination into nucleic acids.
Puromycin and certain other antibiotics are nucleosides produced by molds and other fungi. Abacavir, a drug used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, is an analog of guanosine, possessing a purine nucleoside consisting of guanine attached to a ribose molecule; abacavir is classified specifically as a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor. Various other nucleoside analogs exist; some are used to treat cancer or rheumatic diseases (e.g., arthritis and related conditions), while others act against bacterial or viral infections.