What is "myoglobin"

n. (context protein English) A small globular protein, containing a heme group, that carries oxygen to muscles

n. a hemoprotein that receives oxygen from hemoglobin and stores it in the tissues until needed

Myoglobin (symbol Mb or MB) is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells. In humans, myoglobin is only found in the bloodstream after muscle injury. It is an abnormal finding, and can be diagnostically relevant when found in blood.

Myoglobin is the primary oxygen-carrying pigment of muscle tissues. High concentrations of myoglobin in muscle cells allow organisms to hold their breath for a longer period of time. Diving mammals such as whales and seals have muscles with particularly high abundance of myoglobin. Myoglobin is found in Type I muscle, Type II A and Type II B, but most texts consider myoglobin not to be found in smooth muscle.

Myoglobin was the first protein to have its three-dimensional structure revealed by X-ray crystallography. This achievement was reported in 1958 by John Kendrew and associates. For this discovery, John Kendrew shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Max Perutz. Despite being one of the most studied proteins in biology, its physiological function is not yet conclusively established: mice genetically engineered to lack myoglobin are viable, but showed a 30% reduction in volume of blood being pumped by the heart during a contraction. They adapted to this deficiency through natural reactions to inadequate oxygen supply ( hypoxia) and a widening of blood vessels ( vasodilation). In humans myoglobin is encoded by the MB gene.

As hemoglobin can take the forms of oxyhemoglobin (HbO), carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO), and methemoglobin (met-Hb), so can myoglobin take the forms of oxymyoglobin (MbO), carboxymyoglobin (MbCO), and metmyoglobin (met-Mb).