Translational Control in Hemoglobin Synthesis

Abstract

The hemoglobin molecule is a tetrameric protein consisting of two α- and two non-α-subunits. A subunit consists of a heme moiety attached to an α- or non-α-globin chain. It has long been recognized that even in the anucleate reticulocyte, these three components are synthesized in nearly equivalent amounts and that any regulative mechanism for equalization of synthesis must operate in the cytoplasm, free of direct genetic control. In this communication we consider those control mechanisms which may be responsible for synchrony of formation of the α- and β-chains of hemoglobin, and the regulation of globin synthesis by hemin.