Vanabin

Vanabins (also known as vanadium-associated proteins or vanadium chromagen) are a group of <a href="/facts/Vanadium/UvKkKTSm">vanadium</a>-binding <a href="/facts/Metalloprotein/c0cXhyG4">metalloproteins</a>. Vanabins are found almost exclusively in the <a href="/facts/Blood_cells/lf9GA0Dj">blood cells</a>, or <a href="/facts/Vanadocyte/LxdYll6c">vanadocytes</a>, of some <a href="/facts/Tunicate/9e4penn8">tunicates</a> (sea squirts), including the <a href="/facts/Ascidiacea/Vkqqavut">Ascidiacea</a>. The vanabins extracted from tunicate vanadocytes are often called <a href="/facts/Hemovanadin/rWtKyHxx">hemovanadins</a>. These organisms are able to concentrate vanadium from the surrounding <a href="/facts/Seawater/fRBJjbws">seawater</a>, and vanabin proteins have been involved in collecting and accumulating this metal ion. At present there is no conclusive understanding of why these organisms collect vanadium.
Vanadium has been reported in high concentrations in the blood of the <a href="/facts/Sea_cucumber/1ruJ7ePx">sea cucumber</a> <a href="/facts/Stichopus/b3yWKgvL">Stichopus</a>. However, later research has found little or no vanadium in this and four other sea cucumber genera.

Vanabin open-in-new

Vanabin