A standard functional mammalian hemoglobin molecule is an aggregate of multiple distinct polypeptide — Biomolecules Chemistry Question
Question
A standard functional mammalian hemoglobin molecule is an aggregate of multiple distinct polypeptide subunits, representing a classic quaternary structure. Precisely how many individual independent polypeptide chains combine to form one complete, functional hemoglobin tetramer?
Answer: 4
💡 Solution & Explanation
Quaternary structure refers to the spatial arrangement of multiple separate polypeptide subunits. A standard hemoglobin molecule is a functional tetramer composed of exactly four non-covalently linked subunits: two identical $\alpha$ -chains and two identical $\beta$ -chains.
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