1. Blue, oxygen transporting, copper containing protein found in the blood of molluscs and crustacea.
A very large protein with 20-40 subunits and molecular weight of 2-8 million and having a characteristic cuboidal appearance under the electron microscope. Prior to the introduction of immunogold techniques, it was used for electron microscopic localisation by coupling to antibody.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
