HBA2 Gene
hemoglobin subunit alpha 2
ALIAS SYMBOLS
HBA-T2
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The HBA2 gene provides instructions for making a protein called alpha-globin. This protein is also produced from a nearly identical gene called HBA1. These two alpha-globin genes are located close together in a region of chromosome 16 known as the alpha-globin locus.
Alpha-globin is a component (subunit) of a larger protein called hemoglobin, which is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to cells and tissues throughout the body. Hemoglobin is made up of four subunits: two subunits of alpha-globin and two subunits of another type of globin. Alpha-globin is a component of both fetal hemoglobin, which is active only before birth and in the newborn period, and adult hemoglobin, which is active throughout the rest of life.
Each of the four protein subunits of hemoglobin carries an iron-containing molecule called heme. Heme molecules are necessary for red blood cells to pick up oxygen in the lungs and deliver it to the body's tissues. A complete hemoglobin protein is capable of carrying four oxygen molecules at a time (one attached to each heme molecule). Oxygen attached to hemoglobin gives blood its bright red color.
CHROMOSOME
16
LOCATION
p13.3
LOCUS TYPE
gene with protein product
VARIANTS
159
External Links
HGNC
Ensembl
NCBI
OMIM