– Hemoglobin subunit theta-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HBQ1 gene. Theta-globin mRNA is originally found in human fetal erythroid tissue but not in adult erythroid or other nonerythroid tissue. Theta-1 is a member of the human alpha-globin gene cluster that includes five functional genes and two pseudogenes. Research supports a transcriptionally active role for the gene and a functional role for the peptide in specific cells, possibly those of early erythroid tissue. Hemoglobin has a quaternary structure characteristically composed of many multi-subunit globular proteins. Most of the amino acids in hemoglobin form alpha helices, connected by short non-helical segments. Hydrogen bonds stabilize the helical sections inside this protein, causing attractions within the molecule, folding each polypeptide chain into a specific shape. Hemoglobin’s quaternary structure comes from its four subunits in roughly a tetrahedral arrangement.