InterPro domain: IPR035907

The structure of HPPK consists of an alpha/beta sandwich with antiparallel beta sheets.

7,8-Dihydro-6-hydroxymethylpterin-pyrophosphokinase ( 2.7.6.3 ) (HPPK) catalyses the attachment of pyrophosphate to 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin to form 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropteridine pyrophosphate. This is the first step in a three-step pathway leading to 7,8 dihydrofolate. Bacterial HPPK (gene folK or sulD) [ 1 ] is a protein of 160 to 270 amino acids. In the lower eukaryote Pneumocystis carinii, HPPK is the central domain of a multifunctional folate synthesis enzyme (gene fas) [ 2 ].

1. Cloning, sequence analysis, and overexpression of Escherichia coli folK, the gene coding for 7,8-dihydro-6-hydroxymethylpterin-pyrophosphokinase. J. Bacteriol. 174, 5971-7
2. The multifunctional folic acid synthesis fas gene of Pneumocystis carinii appears to encode dihydropteroate synthase and hydroxymethyldihydropterin pyrophosphokinase. Gene 112, 213-8