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hemocyanin

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
hemocyanin /he·mo·cy·a·nin/ (-si´ah-nin) a blue copper-containing respiratory pigment occurring in the blood of mollusks and arthropods.
hemocyanin
[hē′mōsī′ənin]
an oxygen-carrying protein molecule present in certain lower animals, particularly arthropods and mollusks. The molecule is similar to the hemoglobin molecule of human blood but uses copper atoms, rather than iron, and is less efficient than hemoglobin in requiring many more atoms to bind a single molecule of oxygen.


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But a few animals, such as octopuses, blue crabs, and snails, use a blue compound called hemocyanin that contains the mystery element.
They found an enhancement of secondary immunoglobin M (IgM) and to a lesser extent immunoglobin G (IgG) antibody response to the antigen keyhole-limpet hemocyanin (KLH) 1 week after training began and at the completion of the 4-week period of training.
[28,32] These observations have been confirmed in experiments of immunologic challenge with keyhole-limpet hemocyanin in guinea pigs.
 
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