heme

• haem (British)

Back-formation from hemoglobin.

• (US, UK) IPA^(key): /hiːm/
• Rhymes: -iːm

heme (countable and uncountable, plural hemes)

1. (biochemistry) 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.
   • 2008, John Greer, John Foerster, George Rodgers, Fixos Paraskevas, Bertil Glader, Daniel Arber, Robert Means Jr, Wintrobe's Clinical Hematology: Volume One: Twelfth Edition, page 141:

     The binding of oxygen to the iron molecule causes the hemoglobin molecule to undergo conformational changes that affect the binding of oxygen to other heme sites.

   • 2018, Ruth Reichl, Silvia Killingsworth, The Best American Food Writing 2018, Mariner Books (→ISBN), page 152:

     Impossible's breakthrough was in discovering that meat's essence comes from heme—the iron-rich molecule in blood that carries oxygen and is responsible for the deep-red color.

• hemoglobin

• bilirubin
• red blood cell

• heme on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• IPA^(key): /ˈheme/

heme

1. at home

heme

1. Alternative form of hem

• “hem, (pron.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 June 2018.

From he (adverb) +‎ me (pronoun).

• IPA^(key): /ˈeme/

heme

1. here I am