Iqbal Hamza

About

Dr. Iqbal Hamza is a professor in the Department of Animal & Avian Sciences at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on uncovering heme trafficking pathways in eukaryotes, with pioneering work utilizing the invertebrate model C. elegans. His studies have demonstrated that this roundworm does not synthesize heme but instead utilizes environmental heme to produce heme-containing proteins, challenging the existing paradigm of heme synthesis in free-living eukaryotes. His work identified the first eukaryotic heme importer/transporter (HRG-1), which is conserved across species including zebrafish and humans, and elucidated mechanisms of heme export and inter-organ communication involving HRG-3, ABCC5/MRP5, and HRG-7. These discoveries have significantly advanced understanding of heme trafficking and established a paradigm for heme transport in animals. Beyond his work with C. elegans, Dr. Hamza has shown that related nematodes and parasitic helminths do not synthesize heme, similar to Trypanosomes and Leishmania, highlighting potential targets for therapeutic intervention. His research has led to the identification of homologs of heme transporters in humans and parasites that depend on host heme for survival. His work aims to develop inhibitors targeting heme transport pathways in parasites affecting humans, livestock, and plants, as well as in humans with genetic disorders of heme and iron metabolism.

Research topics

• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Chemistry
• Botany
• Organic chemistry
• Genetics
• Cell biology

Selected publications

• Molecular Mechanisms of Iron and Heme Metabolism

  Annual Review of Nutrition · 2022 · 281 citations

  contributes to its biological utility but also renders it toxic in excess. Heme is an iron-containing tetrapyrrole essential for diverse biological functions including gas transport and sensing, oxidative metabolism, and xenobiotic detoxification. Like iron, heme is essential yet toxic in excess. As such, both iron and heme homeostasis are tightly regulated. Here we discuss molecular and physiologic aspects of iron and heme metabolism. We focus on dietary absorption; cellular import; utilization…

  DOI

• One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them: The trafficking of heme without deliverers

  Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research · 2020 · 79 citations

  DOI

• HRG-9 homologues regulate haem trafficking from haem-enriched compartments

  Nature · 2022 · 74 citations

  DOI

• Update on heme biosynthesis, <scp>tissue‐specific</scp> regulation, heme transport, relation to iron metabolism and cellular energy

  Liver International · 2024-06-18 · 37 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Heme is a primordial macrocycle upon which most aerobic life on Earth depends. It is essential to the survival and health of nearly all cells, functioning as a prosthetic group for oxygen-carrying proteins and enzymes involved in oxidation/reduction and electron transport reactions. Heme is essential for the function of numerous hemoproteins and has numerous other roles in the biochemistry of life. In mammals, heme is synthesised from glycine, succinyl-CoA, and ferrous iron in a series of eight…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multilayer deep-learning intelligent computing for the numerical analysis of unsteady heat and mass transfer in MHD carreau nanofluid model

  Case Studies in Thermal Engineering · 2024-10-30 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access

  The objective of this article is to investigate the mechanism of unsteady heat and mass transfer (HMT) in a magnetohydrodynamics Carreau nanofluid flow (MHD-CNFF). To accomplish this, we utilized a novel artificial intelligence-based (AI) method, deep learning predictive technique combined with Levenberg-Marquardt scheme (DLPT-LMS). The similarity transformation is applied to convert the partial differential equations (PDEs) into a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). We num…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Selective inhibitors of Heme Transporters as Antiparasitic Agents

  NIH · $702k · 2015–2019

• Inter-organ signaling in heme metabolism and organismal homeostasis.

  NIH · $5.4M · 2006–2026

• NIH Grant R21NS075650

  NIH · $159k · 2013

Frequent coauthors

• Anita U. Rao

  University of Maryland, College Park

  28 shared

• Emmanuel Lesuisse

  Institut Jacques Monod

  25 shared

• Lynn K. Carta

  Agricultural Research Service

  25 shared

• Xiaojing Yuan

  University of Maryland, Baltimore

  22 shared

• Jonathan D. Gitlin

  11 shared

• Caiyong Chen

  Zhejiang University

  10 shared

• Michael Krause

  National Institutes of Health

  10 shared

• Tamika K. Samuel

  University of Maryland, College Park

  8 shared

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow/Instructor, Pediatrics - cell biology

  Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine

  2002

• Ph.D., Biochemistry

  University at Buffalo State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

  1997

• M.Sc., Biochemistry

  University of Bombay

  1991

• B.Sc., Biochemistry

  University of Bombay

  1989

Awards & honors

• AGNR Awards
• Excellence in Extension Award
• Excellence in Instruction Award
• Excellence in Research Award

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