10-Formyltetrahydrofolate
10-Formyltetrahydrofolate is a form of tetrahydrofolate that acts as a donor of formyl groups in anabolism. In these reactions 10-CHO-THF is used as a substrate in formyltransferase reactions.Functions
Two equivalents of 10-CHO-THF are required in purine biosynthesis through the pentose phosphate pathway, where 10-CHO-THF is a substrate for phosphoribosylaminoimidazolecarboxamide formyltransferase.
10-CHO-THF is required for the formylation of methionyl-tRNA formyltransferase to give fMet-tRNA.Formation from methenyltetrahydrofolate
10-CHO-THF is produced from methylenetetrahydrofolate via a two step process. The first step generates 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate:
In the second step 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate undergoes hydrolysis:
The latter is equivalently written:
10-CHO-THF is also produced by the reaction
This reaction is catalyzed by formate-tetrahydrofolate ligase.
It can be converted back into tetrahydrofolate by formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase or THF and formate by formyltetrahydrofolate deformylase.
