Jonathan Nguyen Function Teriflunomide s Promise Easing Multiple Sclerosis by Targeting Immune Cells and Replication Processes teriflunamide DHODH soul sall soul soi soul soul soul g p Singleof failure lymphocyte This image was created with the assistance of DALL E 3 The teri unomide molecule Red and blue compound blocks the active site of the dihydroorotate dehydrogenase molecule Green molecule with red spots to inhibit its enzymatic activity and treat multiple sclerosis Meanwhile a sea of su ering human souls su ers from the symptoms of MS They hope that the teri unomide treatment will prevent the rapid growth of autoreactive T lymphocytes Large green cell with branches protruding by stopping the pyrimidine metabolic pathway at the single point of failure glowing orange light By stopping enzyme DHODH from converting dihydroorotate to orotate teri unomide e ectively prevents the production of pyrimidines essential for DNA replication and cell proliferation since each intermediate in the metabolic pathway is necessary for the production of dCMP and dTMP References Liu S Neidhardt E A Grossman T H Ocain T Clardy J 2000 Structures of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase in complex with antiproliferative agents Structure 8 1 25 33 https doi org 10 1016 s0969 2126 00 00077 0 OpenAI 2024 ChatGPT September 27 version Large language model https chat openai com