Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

METALLOENZYMES

Handling heme with care

Nature Chemical Biology volume 17, pages 751–752 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Heme-containing proteins support a broad range of cellular functions. A new crystal structure explains how an integral-membrane heme lyase attaches the hydrophobic heme to soluble proteins.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: A heme handoff during cytochrome maturation by system I.

References

  1. Keilin, D. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 1925, 312 (1925).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Sawicki, K. T., Chang, H. C. & Ardehali, H. J. Am. Heart Assoc. 4, e001138 (2015).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Kumar, S. & Bandyopadhyay, U. Toxicol. Lett. 157, 175–188 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Barker, P. D. & Ferguson, S. J. Structure 7, R281–R290 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Frawley, E. R. & Kranz, R. G. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 10201–10206 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Kranz, R. G., Richard-Fogal, C., Taylor, J. S. & Frawley, E. R. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 73, 510–528 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Brausemann, A. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00793-8 (2021).

  8. Arnesano, F. et al. Biochemistry 41, 13587–13594 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Enggist, E., Thöny-Meyer, L., Güntert, P. & Pervushin, K. Structure 10, 1551–1557 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. San Francisco, B. & Kranz, R. G. J. Mol. Biol. 426, 570–585 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Breann L. Brown & T. M. Iverson

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    T. M. Iverson

Authors
  1. Breann L. Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. T. M. Iverson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Breann L. Brown or T. M. Iverson.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Brown, B.L., Iverson, T.M. Handling heme with care. Nat Chem Biol 17, 751–752 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00821-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-021-00821-7

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing