Proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies of hemoglobin Malmö: implications of mutations at homologous positions of the alpha and beta chains

The abnormal human hemoglobin Malmö (beta97FG4 His leads to Gln) has been studied and its properties are compared with those of normal adult hemoglobin A. The data presented here show that the ring-current shifted proton resonances of both HbCO and HbO2 Malmö are very different from the corresponding forms of Hb A. The hyperfine shifted proton resonances of deoxy-Hb Malmö do not differ drastically from those of deoxy-Hb A. This result, together with the finding that the exchangeable proton resonances of the deoxy form of the two hemoglobins are similar, suggests that unliganded Hb Malmö can assume a deoxy-like quaternary structure both in the absence and presence of organic phosphates We have also compared the properties of Hb Malmö with those of Hb Chesapeake (alpha92FG4 Arg leads to Leu). This allows us to study the properties of two abnormal human hemoglobins with mutations at homologous positions of the alpha and beta chains in the three-dimenstional structure of the hemoglobin molecule. Our present results suggest that the mutaion at betaFG4 has its greatest effect on the teritiary structure of the heme pocket of the liganded forms of the hemoglobin while the mutation at alphaFG4 alters the deoxy structure of the hemoglogin molecule but does not alter the teriary structure of the heme pockets of the liganded form of the hemoglobin molecule. Both hemoglobins undergo a transition from the deoxy (T) to the oxy (R) quaternary structure upon ligation. The abnormally high oxygen affinities and low cooperativities of these two hemoglobins must therefore be due to either the structural differences which we have observed and/or to an altered transition between the T and R structures.

High-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies of sickle cell hemoglobin

High-resoluiton proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 250 MHz has been used to investigate sickle cell hemoglobin. The hyperfine shifted, the ring-current shifted, and the exchangeable proton resonances suggest that the heme environment and the subunit interfaces of the sickle cell hemoglobin molecule are normal. These results suggest that the low oxygen affinity in sickle cell blood is not due to conformational alterations in the heme environment or the subunit interfaces. The C-2 proton resonances of certain histidyl residues can serve as structural probes for the surface conformation of the hemoglobin molecule. Several sharp resonances in sickle cell hemoglobin are shifted upfield from their positions in normal adult hemoglobin. These upfield shifts, which are observed in both oxy and deoxy forms of the molecule under various experimental conditions, suggest that some of the surface residues of sickle cell hemoglobin are altered and they may be in a more hydrophobic environment as compared with that of normal human adult hemoglobin. These differences in surface conformation are pH and ionic strength specific. In particular, upon the addition of organic phosphates to normal and sickle cell hemoglobin samples, the differences in their aromatic proton resonances diminish. These changes in the surface conformation may, in part, be responsible for the abnormal properties of sickle cell hemoglobin.

Incorporation of fluorotryptophans into proteins of escherichia coli

A tryptophan-requiring strain of Escherichia coli can go through two doublings of optical density after L-tryptophan is replaced in the medium by 4-fluorotryptophan, during which the fluoro analog displaces approximately 75% of the L-tryptophan in cell protein. One doubling occurs in the presence of 5- or 6-fluorotryptophan, with 50-60% replacement of L-tryptophan by analog. When beta-galactosidase is induced at the time of addition of analog, it reaches 60% of the control specific activity in the presence of 4-fluorotryptophan, 10% of normal in the presence of 5- or 6-fluorotryptophan. Lactose permease activity is 35% of the control in the presence of 4- and 6-fluorotryptophan, less than 10% in the presence of 5-fluorotryptophan. D-Lactate dehydrogenase shows a specific activity twice that of the control in the presence of 4-fluorotryptophan, one-half with 5- or 6-fluorotryptophan. Thus fluorotryptophan can be incorporated into proteins and affect their activities, although the nature and magnitude of the effect cannot be predicted for any given enzyme. Such substituted proteins should be useful for the study of protein structure and function by 19F nuclear magnetic resonance and other techniques.

The alkylation of hemoglobin S by nitrogen mustard. High resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies

Sickle cell hemoglobin (Hb S) treated with nitrogen mustard (bis(beta-chloroethyl)methylamine hydrochloride) gives two reaction products, one labile and one stable. After dialysis against buffer solution, the remaining stable product is found to inhibit the polymerization of deoxyhemoglobin S. High resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance has been used to study the structure and function of this stable product and to investigate the nature of the binding sites of nitrogen mustard to the hemoglobin molecule. The NMR results suggest that the nitrogen mustard treatment of Hb S does not alter the heme environment or the subunit interfaces of the hemoglobin molecule. Moreover, the NMR spectra have also shown that the nitrogen mustard reacts with the beta2 histidines of the hemoglobin molecule and have suggested that several other surface amino acid residues of the hemoglobin molecule are also affected by the nitrogen mustard alkylation. These NMR findings are in good agreement with the data obtained from biochemical studies of nitrogen mustard-treated Hb S. The NMR spectra also indicate that nornitrogen mustard (which is also effective in inhibiting sickling) binds with the hemoglobin molecule in a manner identical with nitrogen mustard. Sulfur mustard, on the other hand, produces no observable changes in the aromatic proton resonances, which is consistent with the fact that it does not inhibit the polymerization of deoxy-Hb S.

A proton nuclear magnetic resonance study of the quaternary structure of human homoglobins in water

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of human hemoglobins in water reveal several exchangeable protons which are indicators of the quaternary structures of both the liganded and unliganded molecules. A comparison of the spectra of normal human adult hemoglobin with those of mutant hemoglobins Chesapeake (FG4alpha92 Arg yields Leu), Titusville (G1alpha94 Asp yields Asn), M Milwaukee (E11beta67 Val yields Glu), Malmo (FG4beta97 His yields Gln), Kempsey (G1beta99 Asp yields Asn), Yakima (G1beta99 Asp yields His), and New York (G15beta113 Val yields Glu), as well as with those of chemically modified hemoglobins Des-Arg(alpha141), Des-His(beta146), NES (on Cys-beta93)-Des-Arg(alpha141), and spin-labeled hemoglobin [Cys-beta93 reacted with N-(1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinyl)iodoacetamide], suggests that the proton in the important hydrogen bond between the tyrosine at C7alpha42 and the aspartic acid at G1beta99, which anchors the alpha1beta2 subunits of deoxyhemoglobin (a characteristic feature of the deoxy quaternary structure), is responsible for the resonance at -9.4 ppm from water at 27 degrees. Another exchangeable proton resonance which occurs at -6.4 ppm from H2O is a spectroscopic indicator of the deoxy structure. A resonance at -5.8 ppm from H2O, which is an indicator of the oxy conformation, is believed to originate from the hydrogen bond between the aspartic acid at G1alpha94 and the asparagine at G4beta102 in the alpha1beta2 subunit interface (a characteristic feature of the oxy quaternary structure). In the spectrum of methemoglobin at pH 6.2 both the -6.4- and the -5.8ppm resonances are present but not the -9.4-ppm resonance. Upon the addition of inositol hexaphosphate to methemoglobin at pH 6.2, the usual resonance at -9.4 ppm is shifted to -10 ppm and the resonance at 6.4 ppm is not observed. In the spectrum of methemoglobin at pH greater than or equal to 7.6 with or without inositol hexaphosphate, the resonance at -5.8 ppm is present, but not those at -10 and -6.4 ppm, suggesting that methemoglobin at high pH has an oxy-like structure. Two resonances (at -8.2 and -7.3 ppm) which remain invariant in the two quaternary structures could come from exchangeable protons in the alpha1beta1 subunit interface and/or other exchangeable protons in the hemoglobin molecule which undergo no conformational changes during the oxygenation process. These exchangeable proton resonances serve as excellent spectroscopic probes of the quaternary structures of the subunit interfaces in studies of the molecular mechanism of cooperative ligand binding to hemoglobin.

Statistical mechanics applied to cooperative ligand binding to proteins

By using the lattice statistical argument, we have shown that for a protein whose subunits have the same number of neighbors, the three parameters (K(AB), K(BB), and K(S)K(t)) in the sequential theory formulated by Koshland, Nemethy, and Filmer [Biochemistry (1966) 5, 365] can be reduced to two parameters. One of the parameters, Z, measures the strength of the subunit interactions and is related to the apparent free energy of interaction (DeltaF degrees I) by Z = exp (-DeltaF degrees I/2mkT), where m is the number of neighbors in a subunit and kT has the usual meaning. In addition, we relate Wyman's allosteric binding potential [Advan. Protein Chem. (1964) 19, 223] to the canonical partition function of the McMillan-Mayer theory [J. Chem. Phys. (1945) 13, 276]. An explicit form relating the apparent free energy of interaction and the Hill coefficient is given for an allosteric protein that has nonequivalent and independent ligand-binding sites. The present formulation can be used to account for a number of recent experimental results on hemoglobins.

Direct measurement of the pK values of an alkaline Bohr group in human hemoglobin

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of normal and des-(his 146beta) human hemoglobin in the aromatic resonance region have been compared at different pH values. From these measurements, a pK value for histidine 146beta of 7.1 in carbonmonoxyhemoglobin and 8.0 in deoxyhemoglobin has been found. These pK values confirm the proposed role of histidine 146beta in the alkaline Bohr effect.

Functional nonequivalence of and hemes in human adult hemoglobin

Nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the contact-shifted spectra of heme protons in deoxyhemoglobin A from human adults show conclusively that oxygen binds to the alpha hemes in preference to the beta hemes. The preferential binding is produced in 10% hemoglobin solution at neutral pH by either a 15-fold molar excess of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate or a 5-fold molar excess of inositol hexaphosphate. Preferential binding is not observable in the absence of the organic phosphates. The results indicate that the oxygenation of hemoglobin may be described by a sequential model, or by a concerted model that allows the alpha hemes to bind ligand first.