Erythrocruorin: hemoglobin that works outside the cell.
Earlier hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers reused human hemoglobin and inherited its instability. Synfera starts from a different protein.
Erythrocruorin
The extracellular hemoglobin of annelids is one of the best characterised erythrocruorins. Advances in genomic studies make it possible to look beyond human hemoglobin and work with proteins like this one instead.
What changes when the protein changes.
Stable outside the cell
Erythrocruorin is an extracellular hemoglobin: it carries oxygen in circulation without a red blood cell around it, which is exactly where human hemoglobin becomes unstable.
A large, assembled complex
Annelid erythrocruorin assembles into a large multi-subunit complex, a very different architecture from the free human hemoglobin used in earlier HBOCs.
No typing or crossmatching
An oxygen carrier is not a blood-type-restricted product, so it does not require the typing and crossmatching that complicates transfusion.
Early-stage research, openly stated.
Synfera's work on erythrocruorin is preclinical research. We share progress through our newsroom and published coverage rather than claims about clinical outcomes.