Warfarin selective toxicity

Figure 6. Some common pharmaceuticals that inhibit enzymes. Methotrexate binds to the enzyme that normally uses dihyrofolate. This binding prevents the enzyme from binding dihydrofolate reductase and carrying out its function. Inhibition of these enzymes is toxic for virtually al I cells but has some selectivity for rapidly dividing cells. Warfarin binds to an enzyme site that is normally occupied by vitamin K. Again, with warfarin bound, liver enzymes that aid in synthesis of certain blood clotting proteins cannot function properly. As a resuitthe blood clotting proteins produced are defective and there is reduced ability to clot blood.

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