Dihydropteroate synthase inhibitor

A dihydropteroate synthase inhibitor is a drug that inhibits the action of dihydropteroate synthase. Most are sulfonamides.

Tetrahydrofolate synthesis pathway

In bacteria, antibacterial sulfonamides act as competitive inhibitors of the enzyme dihydropteroate synthase, DHPS. DHPS catalyses the conversion of PABA (para-aminobenzoate) to dihydropteroate, a key step in folate synthesis.[1] Folate is necessary for the cell to synthesize nucleic acids (nucleic acids are essential building blocks of DNA and RNA), and in its absence cells will be unable to divide. Hence the sulfonamide antibacterials exhibit a bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal effect.[2]

Uses

Folate is not synthesized in mammalian cells, but is instead a dietary requirement. This explains the selective toxicity to bacterial cells of these drugs.[1] These antibiotics are used to treat Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and shigellosis.

gollark: You CANNOT make a robot which needs NO maintenence.
gollark: > Feeding and maintaining human slaves costs a lot more than running an autonomous robot that only requires electronic energy, which is easily harvested by solar panelsBut it doesn't require electricity only, it requires parts to be replaced.
gollark: I mean, you can't effectively use slaves for anything beyond menial labour, because then they need to do thinking and have some autonomy and actually receive stuff beyond bare necessities.
gollark: Although many tasks don't need generalized robots as much as big motors or something.
gollark: On the other hand, modern robot-y systems need microprocessors, which are stupidly expensive and hard to make, and humans wouldn't.

References
  1. Bauman, Robert W. (2015). Microbiology: With Diseases by Body System (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson. p. 296. ISBN 9780321918550.
  2. "Sulfonamides and Sulfonamide Combinations". Merck Veterinary Manual. Retrieved 2017-06-18.

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