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Blue blood, brown melanin: Two very different proteins share a type 3 copper active site. Tyrosinases catalyze the hydroxylation and oxidation of phenols, which results in the formation of the brown pigment melanin. Hemocyanins, on the other hand, are the oxygen-transport proteins in the hemolymph of truly blue-blooded animals such as spiders, scorpions, crabs, and octopus. Both proteins are closely related by evolution. But why is a hemocyanin not a tyrosinase and vice versa? What is the origin of cooperativity in these proteins? We review and discuss the structural and functional changes that took place in the evolution of type 3 copper proteins.
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Jaenicke et al. (2004) studied this question.
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