Heme (iron-protoporphyrin IX) is an essential co-factor involved in multiple biological
processes: oxygen transport and storage, electron transfer, drug and steroid metabolism …

Iron-sulfur (Fe/S) proteins are involved in a wide variety of cellular processes such as
enzymatic reactions, respiration, cofactor biosynthesis, ribosome biogenesis, regulation of …

Red blood cells (RBCs) are the most abundant cell type in the human body. RBCs and, in
particular, their plasma membrane composition have been extensively studied for many …

The development of resistance to variety of chemotherapeutic agents is one of the major
challenges in effective cancer treatment. Tumor cells are able to generate a multi-drug …

The appearance of heme, an organic ring surrounding an iron atom, in evolution forever
changed the efficiency with which organisms were able to generate energy, utilize gasses …

Lysosomes are organelles of eukaryotic cells that are critically involved in the degradation of
macromolecules mainly delivered by endocytosis and autophagocytosis. Degradation is …

Melanins, the main pigments of the skin and hair in mammals, are synthesized within
membrane-bound organelles of melanocytes called melanosomes. Melanosome structure …

Erythropoiesis is the biological process that consumes the highest amount of body iron for
heme synthesis. Heme synthesis in erythroid cells is finely coordinated with that of alpha (α) …

Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is the first metabolite in the heme biosynthesis pathway in
humans. In addition to the end product heme, this pathway also produces other porphyrin …

Heme serves as a co-factor in proteins involved in fundamental biological processes
including oxidative metabolism, oxygen storage and transport, signal transduction and drug …