Uroporphyrinogen

Uroporphyrinogens are a group of chemical compounds. They occur in nature as intermediates in the biosynthesis of porphyrins, such as the blood pigment heme or cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), above. To porphyrinogens include cyclic tetrapyrroles with four propionic acid (P) and four acetic acid (A ) groups.

Types

There are four compositions of the A and P- groups, of which only the uroporphyrinogen I identified in nature (AP AP AP AP) and, as the most common form, uroporphyrinogen III (AP AP AP -PA) were. The latter is produced from the linear tetrapyrrole Hydroxymethylbilan by the enzyme Uroporphyrinogen III synthase.