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Title: Explain the metabolic relationship between haemoglobin synthesis and folic acid Post by: bio_man on Dec 25, 2010 Explain the metabolic relationship between haemoglobin synthesis and folic acid deficiency.
Title: Re: Explain the metabolic relationship between haemoglobin synthesis and folic acid Post by: bio_man on Dec 25, 2010 • Folic acid is itself not biologically active until it has been converted into tetrahydrofolate via the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase in the liver. Therefore, folic acid is a precursor of tetrahydrofolate.
• In order to biosynthesize glycine, the amino acid serine is required, where the enzyme serine hydroxymethyltransferase catalyses the reaction between serine and tetrahydrofolate into glycine. • The committed step for porphyrin biosynthesis (the prosthetic group that contains an iron atom contained in the center of a large heterocyclic organic ring) is the formation of D-aminolevulinic acid by the reaction of the amino acid glycine and succinyl-CoA, from the citric acid cycle. Therefore, glycine is a precursor of porphyrin. [1] Folic Acid --> Tetrahydrofolate [2] Tetrahydrofolate --> Glycine [3] Glycine --> Porphyrin • In all, a lack of folic acid impairs hemoglobin synthesis. |