Which antibiotic class inhibits folate synthesis?
Folate cofactors in reduced tetrahydrofolate form are essential for synthesis of purine nucleotides, thymidylate via thymidylate synthase, methionine via MetH, pantothenate and formyl-methionyl-tRNA for initiation, serving as versatile carriers of one-carbon units at different oxidation states. Bacteria, fungi and plants synthesize folate de novo, whereas mammals lack biosynthetic enzymes and import preformed folic acid from diet using folate receptors, allowing selective toxicity. Sulfonamides are structural analogues of para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), the normal substrate for bacterial dihydr
Ref: Berg et al., Biochemistry, 9th ed., Chapter 24: Folate Synthesis and Sulfonamide Inhibition Pathway.
