Myoglobin

Myoglobin Latest News

Researchers have developed a flexible, low-cost biosensor capable of detecting myoglobin which is associated with the early stages of a heart attack.

About Myoglobin

• It is a small protein that accounts for about 2% of total muscle protein. 
• It is found predominantly in striated muscle tissue, namely skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle.
  • Specifically, it is in the cytoplasm of cardiac myocytes and the sarcoplasm of oxidative skeletal muscle fibers.
• It encodes a single polypeptide chain with one oxygen binding site.
• It is one of the members of the globin superfamily, which also includes hemoglobin. It often gets compared structurally and functionally to hemoglobin.
  • Hemoglobin has four polypeptide chains and four oxygen binding sites. 
• Composition: It’s made of amino acids, iron and other molecules that work together to hold onto oxygen.

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Functions of Myoglobin

• Transports Oxygen: It transports oxygen from the bloodstream to your muscles when they need it to convert stored energy into movements.
• It serves as a sensitive indicator of cellular damage when detected in urine or plasma.
• It serves as a buffer of intracellular oxygen concentrations and as an oxygen reservoir in muscle. 
• Enzymatic functions: It is necessary for the decomposition of bioactive nitric oxide to nitrate. The removal of nitric oxide enhances mitochondrial respiration.
• Remove reactive oxygen species: It can do this by interacting with fatty acids.

Source: TH