Hemerythrin

• UniProt: P02246

Hämerythrine are respiratory blood proteins involved in a number of marine invertebrates (eg annelids, spray worms, brachiopods ) act as oxygen transporters. So take the same tasks as hemoglobin and myoglobin in higher animals. On land living animal phyla that have Hemerythrin, are not known.

The Hämerythrine belong, despite their name, not to the heme enzymes. The active site of the reduced state provide two bridged over a Hydroxidoliganden and two carboxylates of iron ( II ) ions represents the coordination spheres of the iron centers are complemented by two or three histidine ligands. As part of the connection of this Disauerstoffmoleküls both iron centers oxidized easily and is thereby reduced itself to the peroxide ion. At the same time, it accepts a proton from the Hydroxidobrücke. The Hydroperoxidion formed is then bound to the five-coordinate iron center as well as a hydrogen bond to the bridging Oxidofunktion. The color of the oxidized molecule is purple, deoxidized it is colorless; the molecular mass is 108 kDa.