JBC, Vol. 250, Issue 18, 7239-7244, Sep, 1975
Structural states and transitions of carp hemoglobin
R. R. Pennelly, A. L. Tan-Wilson and R. W. Noble
The wide ligand affinity range previously observed for carp hemoglobin is
bounded at both extremes by regions of constant affinity. Within these
regions, pH, organic phosphates, and the extent of ligand binding have no
effect on the measured affinity and the cooperativity of ligand binding is
greatly reduced or absent. The rates of CO recombination to fully and
partially unliganded carp hemoglobin, under various organic phosphate and
pH conditions, are shown to reflect this behavior. Constant kinetic rates
are seen to directly correspond to the regions of constant affinity.
Therefore, these are taken to be single protein conformations, one of high
and one of low ligand affinity. In the simplest view, these conformations
represent the R and T states of a two-state model, and most of the
properties of carp hemoglobin are explained quite well within this
framework. Increases in either hydrogen or phosphate ion concentrations
favor the stabilization of the low affinity structure of even fully
liganded carp hemoglobin. We have studied the structural transition from
high to low affinity by monitoring the absorption spectra of carp
hemoglobins at constant pH as a function of organic phosphate
concentration. We find that different spectra are induced in both carp
methemoglobin and cyanomethemoglobin by inositol hexaphosphate addition.
Furthermore, the dependence of the magnitude of the spectral changes on pH
and organic phosphate concentration is the close agreement with that
predicted from studies of the ligand binding properties of the molecule.