Unravelling the Mechanisms of Cellular Heme Trafficking in Animals

Abstract: Hemes are a class of porphyrin cofactors that are required for the function of many proteins including hemoglobin， cytochromes， catalases， and peroxidases. Most animals can use glycine， succinyl CoA， and ferrous iron as substrates to synthesize heme， while excess heme is degraded by heme oxygenases. Cellular and organismal heme homeostasis in animals is also maintained by specific trafficking pathways. In recent years， studies using mouse and worm as the genetic models have led to the discovery of a number of heme transporters including FLVCR and HRG-1. These studies， together with the development of new tools to sense and detect heme， have significantly advanced the fundamental understanding of heme homeostasis， cellular transport， and cell metabolism. This review summarizes recent progresses on heme trafficking， with emphasis on the molecular mechanisms and research methodology.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2018.07.0021