Intracellular Trafficking and Catabolism of Free Heme: Physiological Roles and Relevance to Pathological Mechanisms

Dear Colleagues,

Hemes, iron–porphyrin complexes, are known as prosthetic groups of hemoproteins and have been extensively studied in terms of their biosynthesis, intracellular transport, and catabolism across all organisms. Recently, free hemes, unbound to hemoproteins, have emerged as regulators of various proteins. These observations strongly suggest that free heme may act as an intracellular signaling messenger, implicating the existence of complex intracellular traffic and transport mechanisms involved in the spatiotemporal relocation of the hemoprotein-unbound form of heme. However, the mechanisms governing the intracellular trafficking and transport of heme remain unclear. Moreover, excess heme within the intracellular environment undergoes rapid degradation, leading to the generation of reactive oxygen species by the unbound heme form. While heme-catabolizing enzymes are believed to protect cells from oxidative stress by converting heme to biliverdin, non-canonical roles for heme-catabolizing mechanism have only been suggested recently. The objective of this Special Issue is to collect new findings on the intracellular transport and trafficking of free heme, the mechanisms of heme degradation, and the pathological mechanisms related to these processes.

Dr. Junichi Taira
Guest Editor

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