haemoglobin function

Question 1

Haemoglobin is responsible for

Answer 1

binding oxygen in the lung and transporting the oxygen to tissue to be used in aerobic metabolic pathways

Question 2

Why is it good that haemoglobin is soluble in water

Answer 2

As oxygen is not very soluble in water and haemoglobin is, oxygen can be carried more efficiently around the body when bound to the haemoglobin

Question 3

The presence of the haem group (and Fe2+) enables small molecules like oxygen to

Answer 3

to be bound more easily because as each oxygen molecule binds it alters the quaternary structure (due to alterations in the tertiary structure) of the protein

which causes haemoglobin to have a higher affinity(strength in which molecules can interact) for the subsequent oxygen molecules and they bind more easily

Question 4

The existence of the iron II ion (Fe2+) in the prosthetic haem group also allows oxygen to reversibly ……… as

Answer 4

bind

none of the amino acids that make up the polypeptide chains in haemoglobin are well suited to binding with oxygen