Question

In the binding of oxygen to myoglobin, the relationship between the concentration of oxygen and the fraction of binding sites occupied can best be described as ___________

(a) Hyperbolic

(b) Linear with a negative slope

(c) Linear with a positive slope

(d) Parabolic

The question was asked during an internship interview.

My enquiry is from Reversible Binding of a Protein to a Ligand: Oxygen-Binding Proteins in chapter Three Dimensional Structure Of Proteins and Protein Function of Biochemistry

Answer 1

Right choice is (a) Hyperbolic

To explain I would say: The equation θ=(pO2)/(pO2 +P50) is of the form y = x/(x+z) which describes hyperbola.