Question

What are some advantages to using hemoglobin to transport oxygen?

Answer 1

Answer-

According to the given question-

We know that hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells or erythrocytes and responsible for carrying the oxygen to the cells present in the body by combining with oxygen and form oxyhemoglobin. The oxygen attaches with the iron part of hemoglobin i.e. with heme while the protein part is called globin, a type of globular protein.

Hemoglobin is largest component of erythrocytes , generally collect the oxygen from the lungs and transport to the cells or tissue required for generation of energy.

About 1.5 % of the oxygen directly dissolved in blood and rest 98.5% are carried by hemoglobin to the tissue.

Hemoglobin is responsible for increasing the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, because each molecule of hemoglobin contains four unit of heme, through which oxygen binds, thus one molecule of hemoglobin have the capability to carry four molecules of oxygen to the tissues.

This is also a reason that the most of the oxygen are transported by hemoglobin and less amount of oxygen is dissolved in plasma.

Binding of one molecule of oxygen with hemoglobin incerases the binding with other oxygen molecule because it changes the shape of hemoglobin due to which the oxygen molecule can easily binds with the hemoglobin.

The capability of hemoglobin to release oxygen in presence of carbon dioxide is incerases because carbon dioxide react with water to form carbonic acid in presence of enzyme carbonic anhydrase , due to which the pH decreases and hemoglobin at low pH have low affinity for oxygen and this leads to release of oxygen from hemoglobin and pick up carbon dioxide.

Hemoglobin found inside the erythrocytes and due to which the osmotic balance of plasma remain unaffected.