Dr. Pimchai Chaiyen's Laboratory : Serine hydroxymethyl transferase (SHMT)

B. Serine hydroxymethyl transferase (SHMT)

SHMT is a PLP-dependent enzyme, which is ubiquitous and required for folate recycling and dTMP synthesis. Recently, we have reported cloning and expression of SHMT from Plasmodium vivax (PvSHMT) and Plasmodium falciparum (PfSHMT) in E. coli systems (Sopitthummakhun et al., 2009; Maenpuen et al., 2009). A unique property of Plasmodium SHMTs when compared to mammalian enzymes is its ability to use D-serine as a substrate in the folate-dependent serine-glycine conversion. Our findings suggest that PfSHMT and PvSHMT are potential targets for antimalarial chemotherapy.

Current research projects:
1. Kinetic characterization of PvSHMT
Investigator: Somchart Maenpuen

2) Inhibition studies of PvSHMT and Pf SHMT
Investigator: Kittipat Sopitthummakhun

3) Characterization of human SHMT
Investigator: Chatchadaporn Pinthong

[ ... back to Introduction ... ]