Purification and Molecular Analysis of Hemoglobin by High-Performance Liquid Chromatograpy

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a tetrameric protein (mol wt = 64,500) and is the major protein component of red blood cells (RBCs). In normal human erythrocytes, HbA composes about 90% of the total Hb. It is made up of two identical α-chains and two identical β-chains. Besides HbA, human erythrocytes contain small amounts of other forms of Hb as fetal hemoglobin (HbF, α₂ γ₂ ) and HbA₂ (α₂ δ₂ ), and products of posttranslational modifications as HbA_1c . HbS, the sickle cell Hb, is a genetic variant of HbA and is the most widely studied pathological form of Hb (1 ).