Myoglobin Myoglobin 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 distantly 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
Red blood cell 3255 BCE. These cells were discovered in May 2012. Red blood cell Red blood cells, also known as RBCs, red cells, red blood corpuscles, haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek "erythros" for "red" and "kytos" for "hollow vessel", with "-cyte" translated as "cell" in modern usage), are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate's principal means of delivering oxygen (O) to the body tissues—via blood flow through the circulatory system. RBCs take up oxygen in the lungs, or gills of fish, and release it into tissues while squeezing through the body's capillaries. The cytoplasm of erythrocytes