Jared Travnicek Medical & Scientific Illustration info@jtsciencevisuals.com

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This animation was created for an online module for the Scientific Foundations of Medicine course at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. It was made in collaboration with Dr. Sandra Gabelli and Dr. Jon Lorch from the Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry at Johns Hopkins. The 3D models and animations were created in Cinema 4D and composited and further animated in After Effects.

The importance of hemoglobin is made clear by the fact that only 1% of the transported oxygen is dissolved in blood plasma, while the remaining 99% is transported by hemoglobin. Hemoglobin transports oxygen from the lung to the tissue and helps transport carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs.

Narration: The human hemoglobin (Hb) tetramer is a dimer of dimers: two pairs of two related polypeptide chains (alpha and beta) with one heme in each chain - alpha 1 beta 1 and alpha 2 beta 2. The interactions among the four subunits are the basis for the cooperative binding of oxygen molecules. In the absence of bound oxygen, the hemoglobin molecule has a low oxygen affinity. As each oxygen molecule binds, the affinity for subsequent oxygen molecules increases. This allows optimal binding of oxygen in the lungs and optimal release of oxygen in the tissues.

In this 3D medical animation: Red blood cell, Hemoglobin, Oxygen molecule, Dimer, Alpha 1, Alpha 2, Beta 1, Beta 2, Polypeptide chains, Heme