A pharmaceutical company tries to develop a drug that improves tissue oxygenation by increasing the percentage of oxygen that is released from hemoglobin during its passage through the capillaries of extrapulmonary tissues. This drug, it is hoped, would become a popular doping agent for athletes. The company should try a drug that:.
a) Binds to ion channels in the red blood cell (RBC) membrane, thereby increasing the intracellular pH value
b) Binds to the R conformation of hemoglobin, but not the T conformation
c) Binds to the heme iron
d) Inhibits the degradation of 2, 3 - BPG, thereby increasing its concentration in erythrocytes.
e) Prevents binding of CO2 to hemoglobin
Explain your reasoning for each of the answers above (a through e).