Red Blood Cell Function
Transport O2 from lungs to tissues – using hemoglobin to carry the O2
Hemoglobin is maintained in its functional state (reduced) by the metabolic machinery
Cell membrane separates the internal environment from the external environment
- subject to physicochemical constraints
- Electroneutrality, Osmotic balance
- Cause of the imbalance:
- impermeable polyions inside the cell
- hemoglobin, organic phosphates