Folate receptors bind

folate Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing an ...

and reduced

folic acid Folate, also known as vitamin B9 and folacin, is one of the B vitamins. Manufactured folic acid, which is converted into folate by the body, is used as a dietary supplement and in food fortification as it is more stable during processing and ...

derivatives and mediates delivery of tetrahydrofolate to the interior of cells. It is then converted from monoglutamate to polyglutamate forms - such as

5-methyltetrahydrofolate Levomefolic acid ( INN, also known as L-5-MTHF, L-methylfolate and L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate and (6''S'')-5-methyltetrahydrofolate, and (6''S'')-5-MTHF) is the primary biologically active form of folate used at the cellular level for DNA reprod ...

- as only monoglutamate forms can be transported across cell membranes. Polyglutamate forms are biologically active enzymatic cofactors required for many folate-dependent processes such as folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism. These proteins are attached to the membrane by a

GPI anchor Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (), or glycophosphatidylinositol, or GPI in short, is a phosphoglyceride that can be attached to the C-terminus of a protein during posttranslational modification. The resulting GPI-anchored proteins play key roles in ...

. A riboflavin-binding protein required for the transport of riboflavin to the developing oocyte in chicken also belong to this family. Human proteins from this family include: * FOLR1: folate receptor 1 (adult), * FOLR2: folate receptor 2 (fetal), and * FOLR3: folate receptor gamma.

References

{{InterPro content, IPR004269 Protein families Membrane proteins