The structure of molluscan haemocyanins and their homology with tyrosinases

Abstract

Haemocyanins, proteins with binuclear copper sites, are dioxygen carriers in four classes of molluscs: gastropods, cephalopods, polyplacophorans (the chitons), and bivalves (in the latter class only in a limited number of primitive species). They show typical quaternary structures and dissociation patterns in the analytical ultracentrifuge and in the electron microscope.