Hemocyanin

Hemocyanin is a free blue respiratory pigment found in certain mollusks, arthropods, and hemolymph. Hemocyanin contains two copper ions directly attached to the polypeptide chain and is the copper protein known to bind oxygen reversibly. Similar to iron-containing hemoglobin, it is easy to bind and dissociate from oxygen. Recent studies have shown that hemocyanin is a multifunctional protein, which not only functions as an oxygen transporter, but also is related to energy storage, maintenance of osmolality, and regulation of molting processes. Importantly, hemocyanin also possesses phenol oxidase activity and antimicrobial functions, considered to be an important immune molecule in arthropods and molluscs.

Functions of Our Hemocyanin

• Respiratory function. Hemocyanin is a respiratory protein of some arthropods and molluscs, using monovalent copper ions as a prosthetic group. The copper in oxyhemocyanin is divalent copper ions, which appears blue; deoxyhemocyanin appears colorless.
• Phenoloxidase activity. Studies have found that tarantula hemocyanin exhibits phenoloxidase activity when hydrolyzed by trypsin or chymotrypsin. However, phenoloxidase is a member of the non-specific immune system, suggesting that hemocyanin has potential immune functions.
• Antibacterial activity. Research has confirmed that hemocyanin has agglutination activity against six types of shrimp pathogenic bacteria, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio harveyi, and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, the bacterial agglutination activity of hemocyanin can be partially or completely inhibited by α-D-glucose and N-acetylneuraminic acid, suggesting that hemocyanin has bacterial agglutination activity.
• Antiviral activity.

CD BioSciences maintains an extensive marine product library to provide customers with diverse hemocyanins from marine organisms for industrial production, bio-reagent preparation, and scientific research. If you are interested in our products, please feel free to contact us.

Please kindly note that our products can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).