Antivitamins B12—A Structure‐ and Reactivity‐Based Concept |
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| Authors: | Prof Dr Bernhard Kräutler |
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| Affiliation: | Institute of Organic Chemistry & Center for Molecular Biosciences (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80/82, 6020 Innsbruck (Austria) |
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| Abstract: | B12‐antimetabolites are compounds that counteract the physiological effects of vitamin B12 and related natural cobalamins. Presented here is a structure‐ and reactivity‐based concept of the specific ′antivitamins B12′: it refers to analogues of vitamin B12 that display high structural similarity to the vitamin and are ′locked chemically′ to prevent their metabolic conversion into the crucial organometallic B12‐cofactors. Application of antivitamins B12 to healthy laboratory animals is, thus, expected to induce symptoms of B12‐deficiency. Antivitamins B12 may, hence, be helpful in elucidating still largely puzzling pathophysiological phenomena associated with B12‐deficiency, and also in recognizing physiological roles of B12 that probably still remain to be discovered. |
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| Keywords: | antibiotics antivitamin B12 cancer regulation vitamin B12 |
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