Porphyrinogens which are intermediates in heme biosynthesis. They have four acetic acid and four propionic acid side chains attached to the pyrrole rings. Uroporphyrinogen I and III are formed from polypyrryl methane in the presence of uroporphyrinogen III cosynthetase and uroporphyrin I synthetase, respectively. They can yield uroporphyrins by autooxidation or coproporphyrinogens by decarboxylation.

An enzyme that catalyzes the cyclization of hydroxymethylbilane to yield UROPORPHYRINOGEN III and water. It is the fourth enzyme in the 8-enzyme biosynthetic pathway of HEME, and is encoded by UROS gene. Mutations of UROS gene result in CONGENITAL ERYTHROPOIETIC PORPHYRIA.