Oxygen binding proteins

2019年11月17日 下午 2:03

Haem group
• Haem is a prosthetic group permanently bound to oxygen
binding proteins
• Fe2+ at centre of haem binds to oxygen
• Nitrogen from the histamine residue react with the iron
• Hydrogen from another histamine residue stabilize the
oxygen bound

Haemoglobin and myoglobin

• Haemoglobin
○ Tetrameric haemoglobin carries 4 haem groups for
carrying oxygen
○ Haemoglobin transports oxygen in blood
• Myoglobin
○ Myoglobin is monomeric with 1 haem
○ Myoglobin facilitates oxygen diffusion in muscle
• Myoglobin and subunit of haemoglobin are structurally
similar
• Neuroglobin is another oxygen carrier in neurons

Haemoglobin shows positive cooperativity in

binding oxygen
• The next oxygen binds much more strongly than the last
one
• Positive cooperativity is driven by structural change
• T state and R state for haemoglobin
○ T state has low affinity for oxygen
○ R state has high affinity for oxygen
• Positive cooperativity enables saturation of haemoglobin
with oxygen in lung, but release oxygen to myoglobin in
tissue

IASe03 Proteins Diversity Page 1

Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Carbon monoxide binds to the haem strongly and disrupt
haemoglobin cooperativity, locking haemoglobin into high
affinity R state
• 50% of COHb will cause coma
○ But anemic patient with half amount of haemoglobin
can survive
○ Because in CO poisoning, cooperativity is loss, the
haemoglobin cannot release oxygen in tissue

IASe03 Proteins Diversity Page 2