Dihydropteroate is an important intermediate in
folate
Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...
synthesis. It is a
pterin
Pterin is a heterocyclic compound composed of a pteridine ring system, with a " keto group" (a lactam) and an amino group on positions 4 and 2 respectively. It is structurally related to the parent bicyclic heterocycle called pteridine. Pterins ...
created from
''para''-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) by the enzyme
dihydropteroate synthase
Dihydropteroate synthase is an enzyme classified under . It produces dihydropteroate in bacteria, but it is not expressed in most eukaryotes including humans. This makes it a useful target for sulfonamide
In organic chemistry, the sulfona ...
.
Bacteriostatic agents such as sulfonamides target dihydropteroate synthetase. The effect of dihydropteroate synthetase inhibition is comparable to that of dihydrofolate reductase inhibition by trimethoprim, another bacteriostatic agent. Combinations of these two drug types, such as the combination
trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole
Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, sold under the brand name Bactrim among others, is a fixed-dose combination antibiotic medication used to treat a variety of bacterial infections. It consists of one part trimethoprim to five parts sulfamethoxazo ...
(TMP-SMX]), are commonly used to treat recurrent urinary tract, ''
Shigella
''Shigella'' is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and genetically closely related to '' E. coli''. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first discovered it in 189 ...
'', ''
Salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and '' Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...
'', and ''
Pneumocystis jivoreci'' infections.
See also
*
Dihydrofolic acid
Dihydrofolic acid (conjugate base dihydrofolate) (DHF) is a folic acid ( vitamin B9) derivative which is converted to tetrahydrofolic acid by dihydrofolate reductase. Since tetrahydrofolate is needed to make both purines and pyrimidines, which ar ...
References
{{reflist
Benzoic acids
Folates