Soares, Miguel PBozza, Marcelo T2017-06-222018-02-012016-02Miguel P Soares, Marcelo T Bozza, Red alert: labile heme is an alarmin, Current Opinion in Immunology, Volume 38, 2016, Pages 94-100, ISSN 0952-7915, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.coi.2015.11.006. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0952791515001636)http://hdl.handle.net/10400.7/769This publication hasn't any creative commons license associated.This deposit is composed by the main article, and it hasn't any supplementary materials associated. There is no public supplementary material available.The deposited article is a pre-print version.Alarmins are a heterogeneous group of endogenous molecules that signal cellular damage when sensed extracellularly. Heme is an endogenous molecule that acts as a prosthetic group of hemoproteins, such as hemoglobin and myoglobin. When released from damaged red blood cells or muscle cells, oxidized hemoglobin and myoglobin release their prosthetic heme groups, respectively. This generates labile heme, which is sensed by pattern recognition receptors (PRR) expressed by innate immune cells and possibly regulatory T cells (TREG). The ensuing adaptive response, which alerts for the occurrence of red blood cell or muscle cell damage, regulates the pathologic outcome of hemolysis or rhabdomyolysis, respectively. In conclusion, we propose that labile heme is an alarmin.engAdaptive ImmunityAlarminsAnimalsEndothelial CellsErythrocytesGene Expression RegulationHemeHumansMacrophagesMuscle CellsNeutrophilsReactive Oxygen SpeciesReceptors, Pattern RecognitionSignal TransductionImmunity, Innatejournal article10.1016/j.coi.2015.11.006