Study of heme and globin conformation in fractionated rat erythrocytes by means of raman spectroscopy

Abstract

Conformational changes of heme and globin in fractionated rat erythrocytes have been investigated using Raman spectroscopy. The results obtained show that normal isoforms (common variants) of hemoglobin, which plays a key role in oxygen transport and a protective role against oxidative stress, are dominant (more than 80%) in rat blood. However, heavy chain (3%) and light chain isoforms (11%) formed as a result of protein polymerization or degradation perform important roles in the body because they also function in signal transmission and binding to exogenous ligands.