Folate receptors bind
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 ...
and reduced
folic acid
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 a ...
derivatives and mediates delivery of tetrahydrofolate to the interior of cells.
It is then converted from monoglutamate to polyglutamate forms - such as
5-methyltetrahydrofolate - as only
monoglutamate forms can be transported across cell membranes. Polyglutamate forms are biologically active enzymatic cofactors required for many folate-dependent processes such as folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism. These proteins are attached to the membrane by a
GPI anchor
Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (), or glycophosphatidylinositol, or GPI in short, is a phosphoglyceride that can be attached to the C-terminus of a protein during posttranslational modification. The resulting GPI-anchored proteins play key roles i ...
.
A
riboflavin
Riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is a vitamin found in food and sold as a dietary supplement. It is essential to the formation of two major coenzymes, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. These coenzymes are involved in e ...
-binding protein required for the transport of riboflavin to the developing oocyte in chicken also belong to this family.
Human proteins from this family include:
* FOLR1:
folate receptor 1 (adult),
* FOLR2:
folate receptor 2 (fetal), and
* FOLR3:
folate receptor gamma.
References
{{InterPro content, IPR004269
Protein families
Membrane proteins