Normal adult hemoglobin is called Hemoglobin A (Hb A). Ninety-eight percent of adult hemoglobin is Hb A and 2% is Hb A2. There are other forms of hemoglobin. For example, the developing fetus has a different kind of hemoglobin than most normal adults. Fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) is synthesized beginning at the third month of gestation and continues up through birth. After the neonate is born, hemoglobin F synthesis declines (because synthesis of the (chain declines) and hemoglobin A is synthesized. By the time the baby is six months old, 98% of its hemoglobin is Hemoglobin A. There is also a mutant form of hemoglobin called Hemoglobin S, which is found in persons with the disease sickle cell anemia. The disease sickle cell anemia is one of the major health problems facing the African-American community. The World Health Organization estimates that 250,000 babies world wide are born with sickle cell anemia. Currently there is no cure. A person afflicted with sickle cell anemia has inherited a defective gene from each parent. The defective gene is the one coding for the β-chain. The amino acid at position 6 on each β chain has been mutated from a glutamate to a valine. Normal α chains have a decreased affinity for the mutated β chains; thus assembly of the HbS tetramer is more difficult. Red blood cells containing HbS form a sickle shape because the Hb S molecules polymerize. Hb S molecules are more likely to polymerize when in the deoxygenated T form than in the oxygenated R form. The polymerized Hb deforms the normal discoid shape of the red blood cells, producing a sickle-shaped cell. The sickle shaped red blood cells become trapped in capillaries and organs, depriving the victim of adequate oxygen supply and causing chronic pain and organ damage.
Glover, R. E., Ivy, E. D., Orringer, E. P., Maeda, H., and Mason, R. (1999) Molecular Pharmacology 55, pp. 1006-1010.
Huang, J., Hadimani, S. B., Rupon, J. W., Ballas, S. K., Kim-Shapiro, D. B., and S. Bruce King (2002) Biochemistry 41, pp. 2466-2474.
S. Bruce King (2003) J.Clin. Invest., 111, pp. 171-172.
1) Why do you think Hb S has higher tendency to polymerize compared to Hb A?
