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. 2012 Jan 5;3(1):21–38. doi: 10.3945/an.111.000992

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Folic acid metabolism. This schematic shows the process by which folate/folic acid is used for DNA methylation. The MTHFR 677C→T variant reduces enzyme activity (175) and may help to divert the available methyl groups from the DNA methylation pathway toward the DNA synthesis pathway (176–178). The pathway is complex and highly regulated. with feedback loops and interactions not shown in the schematic. Gene names for enzymes are in italics and cofactors are in parentheses. DHF, dihydrofolate; DHFR, dihydrofolate reductase; DNMT, DNA methyltransferase; dTMP, thymidylate; dUMP, deoxyuridine monophosphate; MS, methionine synthase; MTHFR, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase; SAH, S-adenosylhomocysteine; SAM, S-adenosylmethionine; SHMT, serine hydroxymethyltransferase; THF, tetrahydrofolate; TS, thymidylate synthase.