Hemoglobin also carries the important regulatory molecule nitric oxide bound to a globin protein thiol group, releasing it at the same time as oxygen. Haemoglobin is also found outside red blood cells and their progenitor lines. Other cells that contain haemoglobin include the A9 dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, macrophages, alveolar cells, lungs, retinal pigment epithelium, hepatocytes, mesangial cells in the kidney, endometrial cells, cervical cells and vaginal epithelial cells. In these tissues, haemoglobin has a non-oxygen-carrying function as an antioxidant and a regulator of iron metabolism. Haemoglobin and haemoglobin-like molecules are also found in many invertebrates, fungi, and plants.
Red blood cell (the remaining oxygen is carried dissolved in the blood plasma). The red blood cells of an average adult human male store collectively about 2.5 grams of iron, representing about 65% of the total iron contained in the body. Red blood cells in mammals "anucleate" when mature, meaning that they lack a cell nucleus. In comparison, the red blood cells of other vertebrates have nuclei; the only known exceptions are salamanders of the genus "Batrachoseps" and fish of the genus "Maurolicus". The elimination of the nucleus in vertebrate red blood cells has been offered as an explanation for the subsequent accumulation