enzymology An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

, a dihydrofolate synthase () is an

enzyme An enzyme () is a protein that acts as a biological catalyst by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different mol ...

that catalyzes the

chemical reaction A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemistry, chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. When chemical reactions occur, the atoms are rearranged and the reaction is accompanied by an Gibbs free energy, ...

:ATP + 7,8-dihydropteroate + L-glutamate

\rightleftharpoons

ADP + phosphate + 7,8-dihydropteroylglutamate The 3 substrates of this enzyme are ATP, 7,8-dihydropteroate, and L-glutamate, whereas its 3 products are ADP,

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

, and 7,8-dihydropteroylglutamate. This enzyme belongs to the family of ligases, specifically those forming carbon-nitrogen bonds as acid-D-amino-acid ligases (peptide synthases). The

systematic name A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection. Systematic names are usually part of a nomenclature. A semisystematic name or semitrivi ...

of this enzyme class is 7,8-dihydropteroate:L-glutamate ligase (ADP-forming). Other names in common use include dihydrofolate synthetase, 7,8-dihydrofolate synthetase, H2-folate synthetase, 7,8-dihydropteroate:L-glutamate ligase (ADP), dihydrofolate synthetase-folylpolyglutamate synthetase, folylpoly-(gamma-glutamate) synthetase-dihydrofolate synthase, FHFS, FHFS/FPGS, dihydropteroate:L-glutamate ligase (ADP-forming), and DHFS. This enzyme participates in folate biosynthesis.

Structural studies

As of late 2007, 3 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes , , and .

References

* * * * * EC 6.3.2 Enzymes of known structure {{6.3-enzyme-stub