ABSTRACT
The hemoglobin family of proteins is ubiquitous in nature and examples are found in vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, fungi, bacteria, and archaea (Vinogradov et al. 2005). Mbs and Hbs have diverse functions ranging from gas sensing to NO scavenging to O2 management. Vertebrate hemoglobins function primarily as O2 transporters packaged in red blood cells and deliver O2 from the alveolar gas spaces to striated skeletal and cardiac muscles and actively respiring neuronal tissues. The oxygenated forms of these proteins, HbO2 and MbO2, scavenge and detoxify NO by dioxygenating it to nitrate (Flogel et al. 2001; Eich et al. 1996; Doherty et al. 1998; Olson et al. 2004). There are also a wide variety of invertebrate animal hemoglobins,
Introduction to Myoglobin and Hemoglobin ...........................................................97 Globins in Biology ..............................................................................................97 Basic Globin Structures.......................................................................................98 Factors Governing Mb and Hb Stabilities ...........................................................99
