The amino acid sequence of human myoglobin and its minor fractions

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1974
• Subjects: Sperm whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1974.0048; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.1974.0048

The complete amino acid sequence of human skeletal myoglobin is described. That of heart myoglobin is found by homology to be the same. When myoglobin is prepared some minor fractions may be obtained besides the main component. They are shown to be artefacts arising from deamidations. The likely three-dimensional structure of human myoglobin is discussed, taking that of sperm-whale myoglobin as a reference. Human myoglobin is compared with the α - and β -chains of human haemoglobin. There is a noteworthy similarity of internal residues and haem contacts, but little resemblance of sites where the haemoglobin chains form dimeric and tetrameric contacts, when they become subunits of the haemoglobin molecule.