Jerapan KrungkraiH. Kyle WebsterYongyuth YuthavongMahidol UniversityArmed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Thailand2018-06-142018-06-141989-01-01Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology. Vol.32, No.1 (1989), 25-37016668512-s2.0-0024465225https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/15724Plasmodium falciparum was shown to synthesize pteroylpolyglutamate de novo from guanosine 5′-triphosphate (GTP), p-aminobenzoate (PABA), and l-glutamate (l-Glu). The parasite also had the capacity to synthesize pteroypolyglutamate from both intact and degradation moieties (p-aminobenzoylglutamate and pterin-aldehyde) of exogenous folate added into the growth medium. The major product was identified as 5-methyl-tetrahydroteroylpentaglutamate following exposure to pteroylpolyglutamate hydrolase and oxidative degradation of the C9-N10 bond in the molecule and identification of products by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Inhibition of pteroylpentaglutamate synthesis from the radiolabelled metabolic precursors (GTP, PABA, l-Glu) and folate by the antifolate antimalarials, pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine at therapeutic concentrations, may suggest the existence of a unique biosynthetic pathway in the malaria parasite. © 1989.Mahidol UniversityBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyImmunology and MicrobiologyArticleSCOPUS10.1016/0166-6851(89)90126-6