Heme Proteins: Key Players in the Regulation of Immune Responses

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Background

Prof. Ursula Grohmann (22/04/1961-28/01/2022)

In memory of Prof. Ursula Grohmann, who spent her life in betting on the biology of IDO1, a multifaceted heme protein, endowed with a high immunoregulatory potential. She played with holo and apo-IDO1 in different immune disorders. Her research group is grateful for having known her passion and determination to pursue a goal.

The family of heme proteins includes all proteins that contain a heme moiety as a prosthetic group, endowed with a wide range of functions. The functions of heme-containing proteins range from transporting or storing oxygen to xenobiotic metabolism, cell signaling, transcriptional regulation, and immune regulation. An example of heme protein is represented by the molecule IDO1, a multifaceted cornerstone of the immunoregulation, endowed with a catalytic and a signaling activity both contributing to the initiation and the maintenance of the physiological immunological tolerance. IDO1 is known to play a determinant role in the mechanisms of immune evasion by many types of tumors, but it’s also relevant in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, chronic inflammatory diseases, and immunosenescence as well. Many other heme proteins (i.e IDO2, TDO, HO-1…) are also involved in the regulation of the immunological responses, being involved in the pathogenesis of several disorders.

In this Research Topic we welcome the submission of Original Research, Systematic Review, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles, covering, but not limited to, the following topics:

- The molecular dynamics underlying the immunoregulatory role of specific heme proteins (i.e.: showing how the specific holo- or apo- conformation affects the immunoregulatory activity of a specific heme protein)

- The potential versatility of the mechanisms of action of different heme proteins (i.e. IDO1 functioning as an enzyme but also as a signaling molecule)

- The immune regulatory cross-talk among heme proteins (i.e., HO-1 and IDO1)

- The possibility of identifying molecules that interact at various levels with the different mechanisms of action of heme proteins (inhibitors, enhancers, allosteric modulators of the enzymatic activity), to identify new pharmacological tools for the therapeutic intervention of neoplastic, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases

The current Research Topic would collect high-quality publications on the activity of heme proteins as immunoregulatory players in different immune disorders such as neoplasia, chronic inflammation, and autoimmune diseases, to unveil innovative networks among the heme-containing proteins.

Keywords: Immune regulation, cancer, autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, heme proteins, oxygenase, peroxidases, apoprotein, holoprotein, signaling activity, catalytic activity

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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