Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR; EC 1.5.1.20) is the sole enzyme responsible for generation of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, which is required for methionine synthesis and provision of methyl groups via S-adenosylmethionine. Genome analysis showed that Leishmania species, unlike Trypanosoma brucei and Trypanosoma cruzi, contain genes encoding MTHFR and two distinct methionine synthases. ...

Sulfasalazine (salicylazosulfapyridine), an agent widely used for the treatment of ileitis and colitis, is also a competitive inhibitor of intestinal folate transport (1, 2). The mechanism of action of sulfasalazine remains uncertain. To further explore the mechanism of sulfasalazine action, the interaction of the drug with the folate recognition site was tested with three enzymes: dihydrofolat...

X-ray data have been extended to 1.7 A for a binary complex of Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase with methotrexate and a ternary complex of Lactobacillus casei dihydrofolate reductase with methotrexate and NADPH. Models for both structures have been refined to R factors of 0.15 and include parameters for fixed and liquid solvent. “he two species of dihydrofolate reductase resemble one an...

Folate deficiency leads to neural tube defects and other human diseases, and is a global health problem. Because plants are major folate sources for humans, we have sought to enhance plant folate levels (biofortification). Folates are synthesized from pteridine, p-aminobenzoate (PABA), and glutamate precursors. Previously, we increased pteridine production in tomato fruit up to 140-fold by over...

Much of the knowledge of pteridine biosynthesis from purines has come from radioactive tracer studies with whole organisms. Reports on the incorporation of the radioactivity of labeled precursors of purines (1) and of uniformly labeled adenine-1% (2) into riboflavin indicated the utilization of purines for riboflavin synthesis. Furthermore, the results of studies (2, 3) with adenine-814C showed...

In the common dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors an amino substituent replaces the pteridine carbonyl oxygen atom of folates, with altered hydrogen-bonding properties and size. Flexibility in the amino groups could facilitate enzyme binding. Studies of cycloguanil hydrochloride by neutron diffraction show both in-plane and out-of-plane deformation of amino groups. Molecular-orbital calculations...

BACKGROUND Protozoa related to Trypanosome family including Leishmania, synthesize enzymes to escape from drug therapy. One of them is PTR1 that its enzymatic activity is similar to dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Dihydrofolate reductase - thymidylate synthase has a major role in DNA synthesis, if it is inhibited, the result would be the death of parasite. Since PTR1 activity is similar to DHFR...