Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:1.5.1.3 (dihydrofolate reductase)
 5,819 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The structure of a binary complex of dihydropteridine reductase [DHPR; NAD(P)H:6,7-dihydropteridine oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.99.7] with its cofactor, NADH, has been solved and refined to a final R factor of 15.4% by using 2.3 A diffraction data. DHPR is an alpha/beta protein with a Rossmann-type dinucleotide fold for NADH binding. Insertion of an extra threonine residue in the human enzyme is associated with severe symptoms of a variant form of phenylketonuria and maps to a tightly linked sequence of secondary-structural elements near the dimer interface. Dimerization is mediated by a four-helix bundle motif (two helices from each protomer) having an unusual right-handed twist. DHPR is structurally and mechanistically distinct from dihydrofolate reductase, appearing to more closely resemble certain nicotinamide dinucleotide-requiring flavin-dependent enzymes, such as glutathione reductase.
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PMID:Crystal structure of rat liver dihydropteridine reductase. 163 Oct 94

In a semi-defined minimal medium for cultivation of Plasmodium falciparum, ribose, mannose, fructose, galactose, and maltose could not replace glucose. Hypoxanthine was the preferred purine source for the parasite over adenine, guanine, inosine, adenosine and guanosine although all supported growth equally. Inhibitors of nucleoside uptake had low potency in killing the parasites but depressed incorporation of [3H]adenosine more than [3H]hypoxanthine. Glutamate could not be replaced by 5-oxoproline, indicating that the gamma-glutamyl transferase pathway for amino acid uptake is probably not found in this organism. Adenine, nicotinamide, and orotic acid could not supplement glutamine-deficient medium. The pyridoxine antagonists isoniazid and 4-deoxypyridoxine were reversed by amino acid supplementation, suggesting that transaminases may be targets of these drugs. Orotic acid, but not glutathione or its amino acid components, partially reversed the effects of 8-methylamino-8-desmethyl riboflavin. Thus, the flavin enzyme, dihydroorotic acid dehydrogenase, but not glutathione reductase, appears to be a target of this riboflavin antagonist. Five biotin antagonists had no significant activity. The choline antagonist 2-(tert-butylamino)ethanol and thiamin uptake inhibitors had nonspecific inhibitory effects, which were not reversed by the respective target vitamin. Buthionine sulfoximine and methionine sulfoximine, inhibitors of glutathione synthesis, had significant oxygen-dependent toxicity. Six sulfonamides showed marked variation in potency and efficacy. Sulfathiazole and sulfadoxine were reversed differentially by p-aminobenzoic acid, folic acid, and folinic acid. Folinic acid was more effective than folic acid at reversing the toxicity of the dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors aminopterin and pyrimethamine; p-amino-benzoic acid had no effect.
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PMID:Nutritional requirements of Plasmodium falciparum in culture. III. Further observations on essential nutrients and antimetabolites. 286 44

It is proposed that proteins might activate specific atomic positions within bound substrates or co-factors by means of hydrogen-bond chains. As a result of a concerted proton (tautomeric) shift in the linked residues of the hydrogen-bond chain, which includes the bound molecule, a charge separation occurs. The charge thus generated at a specific atom of the bound molecule renders it nucleophilic or electrophilic, as the case may be, and hence 'activated' towards subsequent chemical events. To test the feasibility of the theory a survey of published X-ray diffraction determined structures was performed. A search was made for hydrogen-bond chains which emanate away from bound substrates, co-factors or metal ions in order to validate the existence of such structural arrangements. Secondly, an attempt was made to incorporate the proposed proton dynamics into the proteins' mechanisms of action. Examples in which these criteria were satisfied are carboxypeptidase A, carbonic anhydrase, haemoglobin, dihydrofolate reductase, glutathione reductase and p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase.
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PMID:Charge redistribution in proteins via linear hydrogen-bond chains. 309 99

We report the frequent occurrence in proteins of motifs consisting of either 9-membered or 11-membered rings that involve the side-chain amide groups of asparagine and glutamine residues. The syn CO and NH groups of these amide groups are hydrogen-bonded to the main-chain NH and CO groups of other amino acid residues. The main-chain part of both the 9-membered and 11-membered rings has the conformation of a beta-strand. One such ring motifs occurs, on average, in half of all the proteins we examined. Similar conformations are found for most examples of the 9-membered and 11-membered rings. One of the 11-membered rings is distinct, compared to the others, in that its main-chain part has a mirror-image conformation. Another of the 11-membered rings occurs at the interior of the variable domains of some antibodies and assists in linking the two beta-sheets. We observe one 9-membered ring structure in a dihydrofolate reductase complex in which the amide in the nicotinamide group of the ligand NADP is bound to the enzyme. Groups that can form hydrogen bonds in a similar way to amide groups occur in several nucleotide bases; we find one example of a 9-membered ring involving adenine and main-chain atoms in the FAD-protein complex of glutathione reductase. Both have conformations like those of the other 9-membered rings.
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PMID:Common ring motifs in proteins involving asparagine or glutamine amide groups hydrogen-bonded to main-chain atoms. 851 58

4',5'-Dibromo-2',7'-dinitrofluorescein, a red dye commonly referred to as eosin B, inhibits Toxoplasma gondii in both enzymatic and cell culture studies with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 180 microM. As a non-active-site inhibitor of the bifunctional T. gondii dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHFR-TS), eosin B offers a novel mechanism for inhibition of the parasitic folate biosynthesis pathway. In the present study, eosin B was further evaluated as a potential antiparasitic compound through in vitro and cell culture testing of its effects on Plasmodium falciparum. Our data revealed that eosin B is a highly selective, potent inhibitor of a variety of drug-resistant malarial strains, with an average IC(50) of 124 nM. Furthermore, there is no indication of cross-resistance with other clinically utilized compounds, suggesting that eosin B is acting via a novel mechanism. The antimalarial mode of action appears to be multifaceted and includes extensive damage to membranes, the alteration of intracellular organelles, and enzymatic inhibition not only of DHFR-TS but also of glutathione reductase and thioredoxin reductase. In addition, preliminary studies suggest that eosin B is also acting as a redox cycling compound. Overall, our data suggest that eosin B is an effective lead compound for the development of new, more effective antimalarial drugs.
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PMID:Eosin B as a novel antimalarial agent for drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. 1694 Jan 12