Tetrahydrofolate synthase

In enzymology, a tetrahydrofolate synthase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * ATP + tetrahydropteroyl-[gamma-Glu]n + L-glutamate $$\rightleftharpoons$$ ADP + phosphate + tetrahydropteroyl-[gamma-Glu]n+1

The 3 substrates of this enzyme are ATP, tetrahydropteroyl-[gamma-Glu]n, and L-glutamate, whereas its 3 products are ADP, phosphate, and tetrahydropteroyl-[gamma-Glu]n+1.

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 of this enzyme class is tetrahydropteroyl-gamma-polyglutamate:L-glutamate gamma-ligase (ADP-forming). Other names in common use include folylpolyglutamate synthase, folate polyglutamate synthetase, formyltetrahydropteroyldiglutamate synthetase, N10-formyltetrahydropteroyldiglutamate synthetase, folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthase, folylpolyglutamyl synthetase, folylpoly(gamma-glutamate) synthase, folylpolyglutamate synthetase, folylpoly-gamma-glutamate synthetase-dihydrofolate synthetase, FPGS, tetrahydrofolylpolyglutamate synthase, tetrahydrofolate:L-glutamate gamma-ligase (ADP-forming), tetrahydropteroyl-[gamma-Glu]n:L-glutamate gamma-ligase, and (ADP-forming). This enzyme participates in folate biosynthesis.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, 7 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , , , , , and.