Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Binding Of Oxygen To Human Hemoglobin Within The Erythrocyte Using Icam Spectrophotometry, Kyle K. Hill

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Many of the spectrophotometric techniques used to determine the properties of intracellular human hemoglobin cannot be utilized due to the turbidity of erythrocyte suspensions. An Integrating Cavity Absorption Meter, or ICAM, allows for absorption measurements of strongly scattering samples in the visible-light region of the spectrum. The spectrum of oxygenated hemoglobin within erythrocytes is significantly different from the absorption spectrum of oxygenated hemoglobin in solution. Studies of the oxygen binding to hemoglobin in erythrocytes allowed the four sequential binding constants (Adair constants) to be determined and compared with those of hemoglobin in solution. The Adair constants for hemoglobin in solution …