Editing Hemoprotein (section)

===Hemoglobin===

In vertebrates, hemoglobin is found in the [[cytosol]] of red blood cells. Hemoglobin is sometimes referred to as the oxygen transport protein, in order to contrast it with myoglobin, which is stationary.

In vertebrates, oxygen is taken into the body by the tissues of the lungs, and passed to the red blood cells in the bloodstream where it's used in aerobic metabolic pathways.<ref name="accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com"/> Oxygen is then distributed to all of the tissues in the body and offloaded from the red blood cells to respiring cells. The hemoglobin then picks up carbon dioxide to be returned to the lungs. Thus, hemoglobin binds and off-loads both oxygen and carbon dioxide at the appropriate tissues, serving to deliver the oxygen needed for cellular metabolism and removing the resulting waste product, CO<sub>2</sub>.