Biochemistry, Uroporphyrinogen

Excerpt

Porphyrinogens are cyclic tetrapyrroles- that is, they are a class of biochemical compounds that are composed of four pyrrole groups connected in a ring-like structure. Uroporphyrinogens are porphyrinogens that also contain a propionic acid ("P" group) and acetic acid ("A" group) side group connected to each pyrrole in the macrocyclic core (8 side groups in total, 4 Ps and 4 As). There are four variants of uroporphyrinogen (uroporphyrinogen I-IV), which are differentiated from each other by the arrangement of the P and A side groups. Uroporphyrinogen I and III are naturally occurring compounds, while uroporphyrinogen II and IV do not occur in nature and are only obtainable synthetically. Uroporphyrinogen III is of particular importance in the field of medicine due to its presence in the human body as an intermediate of the biosynthetic pathway that produces heme.