The crystal structure of oxy hemoglobin from high oxygen affinity bird emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae).

Hemoglobin is an honorary enzyme, a two-way respiratory carrier, transporting oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and facilitating the return transport of carbon dioxide. Hemoglobin has high affinity for oxygen and low affinity for carbon dioxide and other substances in the arterial circulation, whereas in the venous circulation these relative affinities are upturned. The oxygen affinity of hemoglobin increases with the fall in temperature and decreases with the increase in pH and 2, 3-bisphosphoglycerate; point mutations also affect the tetrameric arrangement and alter the oxygen affinity.