The Bohr effect is a physiological phenomenon where oxygen binding to hemoglobin is affected by changes in pH. The word "Bohr" is pronounced /bɔr/ and spelled with an "h," after the Danish scientist Christian Bohr who discovered this effect in 1904. The IPA phonetic transcription for "Bohr" is /bɔːr/ in British English and /bɔr/ in American English. Scientific terminology often uses proper nouns as terms, and proper noun spellings are not always intuitive.
The Bohr effect, named after the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr, refers to a phenomenon in biochemistry and physiology that describes the relationship between the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen (O2). It explains how the concentration of carbon dioxide affects the binding and release of oxygen by hemoglobin in red blood cells.
At higher levels of pCO2, such as during exercise or in tissues with increased metabolic activity, the Bohr effect states that the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen decreases. This means that hemoglobin has a reduced ability to bind to oxygen and deliver it to tissues. The inverse correlation between pCO2 and oxygen affinity is primarily mediated by the binding of carbon dioxide to amino groups of hemoglobin, forming carbaminohemoglobin.
The Bohr effect plays a crucial role in regulating the release of oxygen from red blood cells to metabolically active tissues. When tissues have higher concentrations of carbon dioxide, they require more oxygen for energy production. The Bohr effect facilitates this by causing hemoglobin to release more oxygen in response to higher levels of carbon dioxide. In contrast, in areas of lower pCO2, such as in the lungs, the Bohr effect encourages hemoglobin to bind more tightly to oxygen, facilitating oxygen uptake.
Understanding the Bohr effect is essential for grasping the transport and exchange of oxygen in the human body, providing insights into how our physiological systems regulate oxygen delivery based on varying metabolic demands.
The word "Bohr effect" is named after the Danish physiologist Christian Bohr. Christian Bohr discovered and described this physiological phenomenon in 1904 while studying oxygen binding to hemoglobin. He found that carbon dioxide (CO2) and pH have a significant influence on the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen. The term "Bohr effect" was coined to honor his pioneering work in understanding the regulatory mechanisms of oxygen transport in blood.