ABC

Jude researchers discover that ABCB6 proteins in the outer membrane of mitochondria are at the center of the cell's network of biochemical reactions that control heme production

Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that a protein called ABCB6 plays a central role in production of a molecule that is key to the ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen, of liver cells to break down toxins, and of cells to extract energy from nutrients.

Jude investigators showed that ABCB6 is lodged within the outer membrane mitochondria-the tiny sacs that are the energy powerhouses in cells- and that it ferries into mitochondria a type of molecule called a porphryin -- a molecule essential for life.