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Hemoglobin Structure and Cooperative Binding

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Hemoglobin, a four-subunit protein inside erythrocytes, binds up to four oxygen molecules cooperatively, meaning each bound oxygen makes the next site bind more readily.

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Cooperative binding lets hemoglobin load oxygen rapidly at the lungs and still unload it efficiently at low-oxygen tissue.

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Cooperative binding is a property of the whole four-subunit protein, not of any single binding site acting alone.