Hi whatawow,
“Cytochromes’ are the name given to proteins that contain a haem group, are found inside cells, and that are usually involved in transporting electrons. The word ‘cytochrome’ come from two parts: ‘cyto’ means ‘cell’ and ‘chrome’ means ‘colour’. These proteins are found inside cells and usually have a red colour because of the presence of a haem group. The haem group (also spelled as heme in American spelling) is made up of an iron atom surrounded by a large ring made up of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms. This group is strongly attached to the rest of the protein through the iron atom. Have a look at this link to see what the structure of haem looks like: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Heme_b.svg/200px-Heme_b.svg.png
Not all proteins contain a group like haem in them – so a group like this is kind of ‘additional’ and is known as a ‘prosthetic group’ (kind of like prosthetic limbs, or at least a similar way of describing it) – but the haem group is very important for cytochromes to be able to function properly. The iron atom in the haem group can interact very strongly with oxygen. There are a few different types of cytochromes but not all of them have the word ‘cytochrome’ in their name. Some of them are enzymes, such as cytochromes P450 which I study (they take molecules of oxygen and use it to add oxygen atoms into other chemicals – they oxidise things), and some of them are involved in transporting oxygen inside our bodies, such as haemoglobin (or hemoglobin) which is found in our red blood cells (haemoglobin is the reason why our blood is red) or myglobin which is found in our muscle cells. I hope this answered your question. Please let me know if you’d like any more information. 🙂
Hi whatawow,
“Cytochromes’ are the name given to proteins that contain a haem group, are found inside cells, and that are usually involved in transporting electrons. The word ‘cytochrome’ come from two parts: ‘cyto’ means ‘cell’ and ‘chrome’ means ‘colour’. These proteins are found inside cells and usually have a red colour because of the presence of a haem group. The haem group (also spelled as heme in American spelling) is made up of an iron atom surrounded by a large ring made up of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen atoms. This group is strongly attached to the rest of the protein through the iron atom. Have a look at this link to see what the structure of haem looks like: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Heme_b.svg/200px-Heme_b.svg.png
Not all proteins contain a group like haem in them – so a group like this is kind of ‘additional’ and is known as a ‘prosthetic group’ (kind of like prosthetic limbs, or at least a similar way of describing it) – but the haem group is very important for cytochromes to be able to function properly. The iron atom in the haem group can interact very strongly with oxygen. There are a few different types of cytochromes but not all of them have the word ‘cytochrome’ in their name. Some of them are enzymes, such as cytochromes P450 which I study (they take molecules of oxygen and use it to add oxygen atoms into other chemicals – they oxidise things), and some of them are involved in transporting oxygen inside our bodies, such as haemoglobin (or hemoglobin) which is found in our red blood cells (haemoglobin is the reason why our blood is red) or myglobin which is found in our muscle cells. I hope this answered your question. Please let me know if you’d like any more information. 🙂
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