B₁₂/Folate Problem set

Question 7: Folate reduction and recycling

Correct!

An antibacterial drug which acts by inhibiting dihydrofolate reductase is:

A.	leuvocorin
B.	trimethoprim The trick here is to distinguish trimethoprim, the bacterial inhibitor, from methotrexate, which inhibits the same reaction in humans. Obviously the bacterial and human dihydrofolate reductase enzymes are enough different to allow for the design of a chemical compound that will specifically inhibit the bacterial enzyme without interfering with folate recycling in the patient. In the final question, we will consider what would happen to a patient who is folate-deprived...
C.	methotrexate
D.	a sulfa drug
E.	deoxycoformycin