BIOC 384 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Hemoglobin, Acclimatization, Troponin
14 Jun 2019
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Document Summary
Hemoglobin is a protein that binds to oxygen in the lungs for oxygen transport to the rest of the body. The amount of hemoglobin in the blood increases at high altitude (14,800 ft above sea level), which increases the amount of oxygen that can be transported. Bisphosphoglycerate (2,3-bpg) stabilizes the hemoglobin (unbound oxygen form) by altering the conformation of the hemoglobin tetramer, which decreases its binding affinity to oxygen. In high altitude acclimatization, with increased 2,3-bpg production, the equilibrium changes and in the lungs hemoglobin will be less charged with oxygen. On the other hand, sodium is a smaller atom which has six waters when solvated. The high energy of hydration makes the interactions of water more favorable making it harder to pull the waters of sodium. The channel is lined by carbonyl atoms of the selectivity filter, and it is constrained so that only a dehydrated potassium fits appropriately because sodium is too small of an atom.
