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As a new research associate, you are working with an enzyme that synthesizes folic acid in...

As a new research associate, you are working with an enzyme that synthesizes folic acid in bacteria and conduct some enzyme kinetics experiments. You examine the data and find that sulfa drugs inhibit the enzyme's activity. Explain what happens to the Vmax and KM of this enzyme when it is treated with sulfa drugs? Also explain why sulfa drugs have no effect on human metabolism?

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Answer #1

Sulfa-drugs are competitive inhibitors of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS). It is a major enzyme involved in Folic acid synthesis. They inhibit growth and multiplication of bacteria i.e. they act as bacteriostatic. They are not bactericidal i.e. they do not kill the bacteria.

A competitive inhibitor resembles the substrate in its structure and binds to the same site on the enzyme i.e. it competes with the substrate for the same active site on the enzyme. As a result, it increases the Km and Vmax is not altered.

The folic acid biosynthetic pathway is absent in humans. Hence, sulpha-drugs cannot act against human cells.

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