The power of Purple Protoporphyrins in the liver

In essence, like all research in this field, this thesis is about life: in the beginning the search for the origin and in the end the the struggle for preservation. The blue print of life is composed of nucleotides; the building blocks of life are manufactured from amino acids; but terrestrial life is powered by porphyrins. Porphyrin rings are the centres of crucial groups in energy production, transfer and utilisation like chlorophyll and heme. These central rings are almost similar in the different groups and have the unique property of absorbing and emitting light energy. The absorption of solar energy and its application in photosynthesis and oxygen production is the useful purpose of these molecules on the one end of the spectre. On the other end are the painful photosensitivity and the deleterious toxic dark effects of obscure diseases called porphyrias. Porphyrins in high concentration exhibit red fluorescence, when irradiated with ultraviolet light and give urine an intense port-wine appearance. The first three chapters of this thesis reflect the existing knowledge about protoporhyrin, protoporphyria and ferrochelatase. ...

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