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MCAT
Course: MCAT > Unit 7
Lesson 10: Hematologic system- Hematologic system questions
- Mini MCAT passage: Symptoms of low platelet counts
- What's inside of blood?
- Hemoglobin moves O2 and CO2
- Bohr effect vs. Haldane effect
- Blood types
- How do we make blood clots?
- Coagulation cascade
- Life and times of RBCs and platelets
- Blood cell lineages
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Bohr effect vs. Haldane effect
Explore the intriguing interplay between oxygen, carbon dioxide, and protons in our body's hemoglobin transport system. Understand the Bohr and Haldane effects, two crucial strategies that increase oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide removal. Take a close look at how some friendly competition for Hemoglobin allows the body to more efficiently move oxygen and carbon Dioxide around. Rishi is a pediatric infectious disease physician and works at Khan Academy. Created by Rishi Desai.
Want to join the conversation?
- All cells of the body need oxygen, right? Well, here is my question. Do the red blood cells that carry the oxygen need some of it? After all, they are red blood CELLS! Also, for that matter, capillaries, veins, and arteries are made of tissue, right? And tissue is made of cells. What supplies them with oxygen?(44 votes)
- That's a great question! Red blood cells are somewhat unique compared to other cells in the human body, in that they do not have any mitochondria (and thus do not need any oxygen!). As a matter of fact, they have hardly any organelles at all -- not even a nucleus in their mature state. For this reason, many people debate whether they should be considered cells at all!
They instead derive all of their energy from anaerobic means -- specifically, glycolysis and lactate production from pyruvate. So they don't have to take any oxygen from the supply that they carry. As for blood vessels, the larger ones have tiny feeder vessels that supply them with oxygen and nutrients directly, while the smaller vessels are able to scavenge enough oxygen from blood as it passes by and diffuses into the tissues near the capillary beds.
Hope that helps :)(147 votes)
- Do these reactions have a net effect on the pH of the blood?(5 votes)
- The net effect should be to maintain a constant pH, by the haemoglobin "mopping up" the H+ ions, acting as a pH buffer (pH is a measure of H+ ions in solution). The blood has to remain at a fairly constant pH, otherwise it would be an acid bath, which cause any protein based structures to denature, including the haemoglobin in red blood cells.(12 votes)
- I have two Questions:
Does the production of lactic acid in skeletal muscle contribute to lowering the pH and thus increase O2 delivery?
Also, because there is low CO2 in the lungs and therefore less HCO3- and H2CO3 because of Le'Chatelier's principle, does that mean that the lungs have a more basic environment than the rest of the body?
Thanks for any info on this!(8 votes)- I think that you raise a good point for #2. In the lungs HCO3- and H2CO3 are converted back into CO2 and H2O, which removes protons from the blood, which should raise the pH of the blood. So I guess yes, the blood in the lungs will be more alkali than the blood in the muscles. Great question!(4 votes)
- Hey, how is O2 different than just O? If it's the same element, why should it matter how many there are in a bond?(4 votes)
- What is partial pressure ??(3 votes)
- It is the hypothetical pressure of that gas if it was by itself in the recipient. You can see it as the total pressure (let's say the atmosferic pressure, which is760 mmHg) times the concentration of this gas in the mixture (let's pick up oxigen, for example. Taking note that oxygen forms around 21% of the atmosphere) So, to find oxigen's partial pressure: 760 mmHg * 0,21 = around 160 mmHg :)(11 votes)
- At which point does the body use the Bohr/Haldane effect? Is it some sort of a compensatory mechanism?(3 votes)
- It is both homeostatic and compensatory. When the blood is in the lungs surrounded by a lot of oxygen, the blood is more likely to pick up oxygen and release H+ so that CO2 can be made and released into the alveoli. Conversely, the acidity in the tissues causes the hemoglobin to drop off the oxygen and pick up H+ to give the tissues what they need. During exercise, the acidity in the tissues is even greater so even more oxygen is likely to be dropped off where it is needed the most.(10 votes)
- At, how does CO2 binding to oxyhaemoglobin produce an extra proton? ie it looks like the equation isn't balanced... 2:52(6 votes)
- One hemoglobin molecule can bind to 4 O2 molecules. When Rishi mentions that the hemoglobin drops off its 4 O2 molecules in the thigh that got me wondering if it were possible for it to drop one or two O2's along the way. Does a full hemoglobin unload all its O2's at once - in one tissue - or does it make pit-stops along the way - unloading an O2 here and an O2 there, in various tissues?(6 votes)
- I think the hemoglobin makes pit stops along the way. The affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen is reduced in the tissue compared to the lungs. due to cooperativity. Once the first oxygen binds to hemoglobin, the molecule undergoes a conformation change (tense state to relaxed state) that allows other oxygen molecules to bind to hemoglobin more readily. The reverse process occurs in the tissues, as more oxygen molecules depart the hemoglobin, , the hemoglobin's affinity is reduced.
There are two models for how affinity change occurs in molecules such as hemoglobin. The concerted model suggests that all the cooperative binding sites change at the same time. The sequential model is that change in one binding site causes the neighboring binding site to change. My best guess is that the concerted model would cause more oxygen to be dropped off "all at once" in one local area whereas the sequential model would favor a more distributed "pit stop" delivery of oxygen.
Source: Lehninger, A., Nelson, David L., & Cox, Michael M. (2005). Lehninger principles of biochemistry (4th ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman.(1 vote)
- I know this is off subject but what is the difference's between red and white blood cell's?(1 vote)
- Red blood cells carry oxygen (which is attached to hemoglobin) to different parts of your body and white blood cells fight diseases by eliminating germs and other foreign bodies(6 votes)
- why redblood cell has no nucleus?(0 votes)
- The nucleus is ejected after it finishes maturing to maximize the amount of hemoglobin that can be contained within the cell. The nucleus is only needed to create new proteins, however since an mature RBCs only goal is to transport oxygen (( and co2 XD )) the cell after matures no longer requires the need to synthesize proteins!(5 votes)
Video transcript
So we've talked a little bit
about the lungs and the tissue, and how there's an interesting
relationship between the two where they're trying to
send little molecules back and forth. The lungs are trying to
send, of course, oxygen out to the tissues. And the tissues are
trying to figure out a way to efficiently
send back carbon dioxide. So these are the
core things that are going on between the two. And remember, in terms
of getting oxygen across, there are two major
ways, we said. The first one, the easy one
is just dissolved oxygen, dissolved oxygen in
the blood itself. But that's not the major way. The major way is when oxygen
actually binds hemoglobin. In fact, we call that HbO2. And the name of that
molecule is oxyhemoglobin. So this is how the
majority of the oxygen is going to get
delivered to the tissues. And on the other side,
coming back from the tissue to the lungs, you've got
dissolved carbon dioxide. A little bit of carbon
dioxide actually, literally comes just right in the plasma. But that's not the majority of
how carbon dioxide gets back. The more effective ways of
getting carbon dioxide back, remember, we have this
protonated hemoglobin. And actually
remember, when I say there's a proton
on the hemoglobin, there's got to be some bicarb
floating around in the plasma. And the reason that works is
because when they get back to the lungs, the proton, that
bicarb, actually meet up again. And they form CO2 and water. And this happens because
there's an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase inside
of the red blood cells. So this is where the carbon
dioxide actually gets back. And of course,
there's a third way. Remember, there's
also some hemoglobin that actually binds
directly to carbon dioxide. And in the process, it forms
a little proton as well. And that proton can
go do this business. It can bind to a
hemoglobin as well. So there's a little
interplay there. But the important ones I want
you to really kind of focus in on are the fact that
hemoglobin can bind to oxygen. And also on this
side, that hemoglobin actually can bind to protons. Now, the fun part
about all this is that there's a
little competition, a little game going on here. Because you've got,
on the one side, you've got hemoglobin
binding oxygen. And let me draw it twice. And let's say this top one
interacts with a proton. Well, that protons going to want
to snatch away the hemoglobin. And so there's a little
competition for hemoglobin. And here, the oxygen gets
left out in the cold. And the carbon dioxide does
the same thing, we said. Now, we have little hemoglobin
bound to carbon dioxide. And it makes a proton
in the process. But again, it leave
oxygen out in the cold. So depending on whether
you have a lot of oxygen around, if that's the kind
of key thing going on, or whether you have a lot
of these kinds of products the proton or the
carbon dioxide. Depending on which one you
have more of floating around in the tissue in the
cell, will determine which way that reaction goes. So keeping this
concept in mind, then I could actually step
back and say, well, I think that oxygen is affected
by carbon dioxide and protons. I could say, well, these two,
carbon dioxide and protons, are actually
affecting, let's say, are affecting the, let's say,
the affinity or the willingness of hemoglobin to bind,
of hemoglobin for oxygen. That's one kind of
statement you could make by looking at that
kind of competition. And another person come
along and they say, well, I think oxygen
actually is affecting, depending on which one,
which perspective you take. You could say, oxygen is
affecting maybe the affinity of hemoglobin for the
carbon dioxide and proton of hemoglobin for
CO2 and protons. So you could say it
from either perspective. And what I want to point
out is that actually, in a sense, both
of these are true. And a lot of times we
think, well, maybe it's just saying the
same thing twice. But actually, these are
two separate effects. And they have two
separate names. So the first one, talking about
carbon dioxide and protons, their effect is called
the Bohr effect. So you might see that
word or this description. This is the Bohr effect. And the other one, looking at
it from the other prospective, looking at it from
oxygen's perspective, this would be the
Haldane effect. That's just the name
of it, Haldane effect. So what is the Bohr effect
and the Haldane effect? Other than simply saying
that the things compete for hemoglobin. Well, let me actually bring
up a little bit of the canvas. And let's see if I
can't diagram this out. Because sometimes I think a
little diagram would really go a long way in
explaining these things. So let's see if I can do that. Let's use a little graph and see
if we can illustrate the Bohr effect on this graph. So this is the partial
pressure of oxygen, how much is dissolved
in the plasma. And this is oxygen
content, which is to say, how much total oxygen
is there in the blood. And this, of course,
takes into account mostly the amount of oxygen
that's bound to hemoglobin. So as I slowly increase the
partial pressure of oxygen, see how initially,
not too much is going to be binding
to the hemoglobin. But eventually as a few
of the molecules bind, you get cooperativity. And so then, slowly the
slope starts to rise. And it becomes more steep. And this is all because
of cooperativity. Oxygen likes to bind where other
oxygens have already bound. , And then it's
going to level off. And the leveling off
is because hemoglobin is starting to get saturated. So there aren't too many
extra spots available. So you need lots and lots of
oxygen dissolved in the plasma to be able to seek out and
find those extra remaining spots on hemoglobin. So let's say we
choose two spots. One spot, let's say,
is a high amount of oxygen dissolved
in the blood. And this, let's
say, is a low amount of oxygen dissolved
in the blood. I'm just kind of choosing
them arbitrarily. And don't worry about the units. And if you were to think
of where in the body would be a high
location, that could be something like
the lungs where you have a lot of oxygen
dissolved in blood. And low would be, let's say,
the thigh muscle where there's a lot of CO2 but not so much
oxygen dissolved in the blood. So this could be two
parts of our body. And you can see that. Now, if I want to figure
out, looking at this curve how much oxygen is being
delivered to the thigh, then that's actually
pretty easy. I could just say, well, how much
oxygen was there in the lungs, or in the blood vessels
that are leaving the lungs. And there's this much
oxygen in the blood vessels leaving the lungs. And there's this much
oxygen in the blood vessels leaving the thigh. So the difference, whenever
oxygen is between these two points, that's the amount of
oxygen that got delivered. So if you want to figure out
how much oxygen got delivered to any tissue you can simply
subtract these two values. So that's the oxygen delivery. But looking at this, you
can see an interesting point which is that if you wanted to
increase the oxygen delivery. Let's say, you wanted
for some reason to increase it, become more
efficient, then really, the only way to
do that is to have the thigh become more hypoxic. As you move to the
left on here, that's really becoming hypoxic,
or having less oxygen. So if you become more
hypoxic, then, yes, you'll have maybe a lower point
here, maybe a point like this. And that would mean a
larger oxygen delivery. But that's not ideal. You don't want your
thighs to become hypoxic. That could start
aching and hurting. So is there another way to
have a large oxygen delivery without having any
hypoxic tissue, or tissue that has a low
amount of oxygen in it. And this is where the Bohr
effect comes into play. So remember, the
Bohr effect said that, CO2 and protons
affect the hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen. So let's think of a situation. I'll do it in green. And in this situation, where
you have a lot of carbon dioxide and protons, the
Bohr effect tells us that it's going to be harder
for oxygen to bind hemoglobin. So if I was to sketch
out another curve, initially, it's going to
be even less impressive, with less oxygen
bound to hemoglobin. And eventually, once the
concentration of oxygen rises enough, it will
start going up, up, up. And it does bind
hemoglobin eventually. So it's not like it'll
never bind hemoglobin in the presence of carbon
dioxide and protons. But it takes longer. And so the entire curve
looks shifted over. These conditions of high
CO2 and high protons, that's not really
relevant to the lungs. The lungs are thinking,
well, for us, who cares. We don't really have
these conditions. But for the thigh,
it is relevant because the thigh
has a lot of CO2. And the thigh has
a lot of protons. Again, remember, high
protons means low pH. So you can think
of it either way. So in the thigh, you're going
to get, then, a different point. It's going to be on the green
curve not the blue curve. So we can draw it at
the same O2 level, actually being down here. So what is the O2 content in the
blood that's leaving the thigh? Well, then to do it
properly, I would say, well, it would actually be over here. This is the actual amount. And so O2 deliver is actually
much more impressive. Look at that. So O2 delivery is increased
because of the Bohr effect. And if you want to know exactly
how much it's increased, I could even show you. I could say, well, this
amount from here down to here. Literally the vertical
distance between the green and the blue lines. So this is the extra oxygen
delivered because of the Bohr effect. So this is how the Bohr effect
is so important at actually helping us deliver
oxygen to our tissues. So let's do the same thing,
now, but for the Haldane effect. And to do this, we actually
have to switch things around. So our units and our axes
are going to be different. So we're going to have the
amount of carbon dioxide there. And here, we'll do carbon
dioxide content in the blood. So let's think through
this carefully. Let's first start
out with increasing the amount of carbon
dioxide slowly but surely. And see how the content goes up. And here, as you increase
the amount of carbon dioxide, the content is kind of
goes up as a straight line. And the reason it
doesn't take that S shape that we had
with the oxygen is that there's no cooperativity
in binding the hemoglobin. It just goes up straight. So that's easy enough. Now, let's take two
points like we did before. Let's take a point,
let's say up here. This will be a high amount
of CO2 in the blood. And this will be a low
amount of CO2 in the blood. So you'd have a low amount,
let's say right here, in what part of the tissue? Well, low CO2, that
sounds like the lungs because there's not
too much CO2 there. But high CO2, it
probably is the thighs because the thighs like
little CO2 factories. So the thigh has a high
amount and the lungs have a low amount. So if I want to look at the
amount of CO2 delivered, we'd do it the same way. We say, OK, well, the
thighs had a high amount. And this is the amount of
CO2 in the blood, remember. And this is the amount
of CO2 in the blood when it gets to the lungs. So the amount of CO2 that
was delivered from the thigh to the lungs is the difference. And so this is how
much CO2 delivery we're actually getting. So just like we had O2 delivery,
we have this much CO2 delivery. Now, read over the
Haldane effect. And let's see if we can actually
sketch out another line. In the presence of high
oxygen, what's going to happen? Well, if there's a
lot of oxygen around, then it's going to change
the affinity of hemoglobin for carbon dioxide and protons. So it's going to allow less
binding of protons and carbon dioxide directly
to the hemoglobin. And that means that you're
going to have less CO2 content for any given amount
of dissolved CO2 in the blood. So the line still is a straight
line, but it's actually, you notice, it's kind
of slope downwards. So where is this relevant? Where do you have
a lot of oxygen? Well, it's not really
relevant for the thighs because the thighs don't
have a lot of oxygen. But it is relevant
for the lungs. It is very relevant there. So now you can actually say,
well, let's see what happens. Now that you have high
O2, how much CO2 delivery are you getting? And you can already see it. It's going to be more because
now you've got this much. You've got going all
the way over here. So this is the new
amount of CO2 delivery. And it's gone up. And in fact, you can even
show exactly how much it's gone up by, by simply
taking this difference. So this difference right
here between the two, this is the Haldane effect. This is the visual way
that you can actually see that Haldane effect. So the Bohr effect and
the Haldane effect, these are two important
strategies our body has for increasing the
amount of O2 delivery and CO2 delivery going back and
forth between the lungs and the tissues.