heme
The component of hemoglobin (and other hemoproteins) responsible for binding oxygen. It consists of an iron ion that binds oxygen and a porphyrin ring that binds the globin molecules; one molecule binds one molecule of oxygen.
A kind of
- pigment
Related words
- decaheme
- deoxyheme
- diheme
- ferriheme
- ferroheme
- hemelike
- hemeprotein
- hemic
- monoheme
- multiheme
- nonheme
- octaheme
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “heme” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.