title: The regulatory role of heme in neurons.
abstract: The involvement of the metallic element iron in various biological systems is well known. In many cases, iron is employed in the form of a heme group and the family of proteins and catalytic enzymes that contain heme is well documented (e.g. the globins, cytochromes, and P450s). For many of these proteins, there is a great deal of information available in terms of structures, catalytic mechanism and function. This has led to a collective view that the main role of heme in biological systems is as a prosthetic group, binding to individual proteins and thereby conferring upon them particular functional properties. It is now becoming clear that this description represents only a part of a much more complex involvement of heme in biology and that other roles, for example in regulation and sensing, have been overlooked. This mini-review focuses on one such emerging role: the regulatory role of heme in neurons.
authors.affiliation: MRC Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building, Lancaster Road, Leicester LE1 9HN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Emma Lloyd
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Raven
authors.forename: Tatyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chernova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006418:Heme / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006418:Heme; D007501:Iron