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Separation of the photophysical aspects of the sub-picosecond (sub-ps) time-resolved resonance Raman signal from contributions due to conformation has been achieved by comparing deoxyhemoglobin (Hb) in the T state with (carbonmonoxy)hemoglobin (HbCO), deoxy-beta 4 (beta 4 CO) (All R state), and monomers deoxymyoglobin and (carbonmonoxy)myoglobin (MbCO) [beta 4 consists of a tetramer of four beta-subunits and shows no cooperativity]. In all photolyzed species, Hb*(CO), Mb*(CO), and beta 4*(CO), the iron-histidine out-of-plane mode (vFe-His), indicative of heme doming, achieves 90% of its full intensity in 1 ps. The frequency of this mode (223-228 cm-1) is shifted significantly relative to equilibrium deoxy-Hb (210-216 cm-1) in the T state, but not with respect to either equilibrium deoxy-Mb or deoxy-beta 4. A correlation between the +12 cm-1 bandshift of vFe-His and the -2 cm-1 shift of the electron density marker band (v4 at 1370 cm-1) relative to T-state deoxy-Hb is shown to hold on all time scales, including the sub-picosecond time scale. Photolyzed Hb*(CO) consists of R-state or weakly interacting tetramers on the picosecond time scale and is shown to have properties similar to those of photolyzed Mb*(CO) and beta 4*(CO) on the picosecond time scale. These results establish that heme doming occurs as an ultrafast reaction to ligand dissociation and that heme doming is the primary event in the sequence of conformational changes leading to the cooperative R-->T transition.

Heme iron out-of-plane displacement following ligand dissociation in hemoglobin, myoglobin, and the proximal cavity mutant H93G is shown to be as rapid as the heme iron out-of-plane vibrational period by sub-picosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy. The results demonstrate that the effect of steric repulsion initiated by the spin change of the iron gives rise to heme doming independent of covalent attachment of the proximal ligand to the protein. It is concluded that the protein plays a passive role in the initial ultrafast heme iron motion toward the out-of-plane position observed in the deoxy structure of hemoglobin and myoglobin. The results suggest that the spin change of the heme iron is the primary cause of rapid heme doming and that steric repulsion of the proximal ligand with the heme plays a secondary role in forcing the iron out of the heme plane.

The study of cooperative ligand binding among the four subunits of haemoglobin has played a central role in the understanding of allosteric transitions in a large number of enzymes. Haem iron out-of-plane motion has been suggested to be the trigger for the cooperative transition of haemoglobin. To function as a trigger in a dynamic sense, haem-iron doming must be the first conformational change to occur following ligand dissociation. Here we present the first direct demonstration that haem-iron doming occurs on the same time scale as the breaking of the iron-ligand bond, thus establishing haem-iron doming as the primary event which lead to the R-->T transition in haemoglobin.

Two new potent allosteric effectors of hemoglobin, RSR-4 [2-[4-[[(3,5-dichloroanilino)carbonyl]-methyl]phenoxy]-2- methylpropionic acid] and RSR-13 [2-[4-[[(3,5-dimethlanilino)carbonyl]methyl]-phenoxy]-2-methylp rop ionic, are compared to the previously reported compounds L3,5 and L3,4,5 [Lalezari, I., Lalezari, P., Poyart, C., Marden, M., Kister, J., Bohn, B., Fermi, G., & Perutz, M. F. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 1515]. Unlike L3,5 and L3,4,5, RSR-4 and RSR-13 are less impeded by physiological concentrations of serum albumin. RSR-4 has also been shown to be more effective than L3,5 in shifting the allosteric equilibrium of bovine Hb toward the low-affinity T-state. X-ray crystal studies show that both RSR-4 and RSR-13 bind to only one pair of symmetry-related sites in the Hb central water cavity whereas previous studies on L3,5 and L3,4,5 demonstrated a second pair of symmetry-related binding sites near Arg 104 beta. Three major interactions between these allosteric effectors and Hb include the acid group with the guanidinium group of C-terminal Arg 141 alpha, the effector's amide oxygen with the ammonium ion of Lys 99 alpha, and the phi electrons of the halogenated or methylated aromatic ring and Asn 108 beta. No explanation has been found for the difference in number of binding sites observed for RSR-4 and RSR-13 (two sites) compared to L3,5 and L3,4,5 (four sites); also no correlation has been made between the number of binding sites and degree of allosteric shift in the oxygen equilibrium curve.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The allosteric transition in triply ferric hemoglobin has been studied with different ferric ligands. This valency hybrid permits observation of oxygen or CO binding properties to the single ferrous subunit, whereas the liganded state of the other three ferric subunits can be varied. The ferric hemoglobin (Hb) tetramer in the absence of effectors is generally in the high oxygen affinity (R) state; addition of inositol hexaphosphate induces a transition towards the deoxy (T) conformation. The fraction of T-state formed depends on the ferric ligand and is correlated with the spin state of the ferric iron complexes. High-spin ferric ligands such as water or fluoride show the most T-state, whereas low-spin ligands such as cyanide show the least. The oxygen equilibrium data and kinetics of CO recombination indicate that the allosteric equilibrium can be treated in a fashion analogous to the two-state model. The binding of a low-spin ferric ligand induces a change in the allosteric equilibrium towards the R-state by about a factor of 150 (at pH 6.5), similar to that of the ferrous ligands oxygen or CO; however, each high-spin ferric ligand induces a T to R shift by a factor of 40.

We have measured oxygen binding properties for red cell suspensions and stripped hemolysate of Xenopus laevis (XL) in order to answer the question whether XL hemoglobin exhibits a Root effect. The present results show that under physiological conditions XL red cells do not exhibit all the criteria for a Root effect. Compared to human Hb A, stripped XL hemoglobin has a low oxygen affinity, a normal alkaline Bohr effect and a lower interaction with 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, its physiological allosteric effector in red cells. The values for the Hill coefficients are lower than those for human hemoglobin but XL Hb remains cooperative (n50 approximately 2), even at pH values below 6. Attempts to mimick some of the criteria for the Root effect were carried out in pure Hb A solution upon addition of potent allosteric effectors. This leads to low cooperativity and less than 100% oxygen saturation under room air at acidic pH. Under these conditions, mammalian or XL Hb have a maximum proton release at pH approximately 8 and an increased reverse Bohr effect. By contrast, a Root effect Hb exhibits a maximum proton release at neutral pH with the absence of reverse Bohr effect. Therefore the Root effect in fish Hb and the extreme stabilization of the T-state with effectors in mammalian Hb are not an identical phenomenon. Without crystallographic analyses of fish Hb exhibiting a Root effect, the molecular interpretation of this functional property still remains unexplained.

Chloride anions, when bound to human hemoglobin, lower the affinity for oxygen and increase the alkaline Bohr effect. These oxygen-linked characteristics are attributed to the preferential binding of Cl- to both alpha- and beta-chains in their deoxy configuration. It is demonstrated that the release of Cl- upon oxygenation is mainly due to tertiary changes, as shown by the effect of the anion on K1, the affinity constant of hemoglobin for oxygen at a very low saturation level (y less than or equal to 1.5%) where the cooperativity is unity. Investigation of the chloride effect on adult hemoglobin specifically carbamylated at the N-terminal valine of the alpha-chains, indicated a large inhibition of the effect of Cl-. The alpha-chain-binding sites appear to be the sites of the greatest affinity for the anion.

We have used isoelectric focusing to measure the differences between the pI values of various normal and mutant human haemoglobins when completely deoxygenated and when fully liganded with CO. It was assumed that the DeltapI(deox.-ox.) values might correspond quantitatively to the intrinsic alkaline Bohr effect, as most of the anionic cofactors of the haemoglobin molecule are ;stripped' off during the electrophoretic process. In haemoglobins known to exhibit a normal Bohr coefficient (DeltalogP(50)/DeltapH) in solutions, the DeltapI(deox.-ox.) values are lower the higher their respective pI(ox.) values. This indicates that for any particular haemoglobin the DeltapI(deox.-ox.) value accounts for the difference in surface charges at the pH of its pI value. This was confirmed by measuring, by the direct-titration technique, the difference in pH of deoxy and fully liganded haemoglobin A(0) (alpha(2)beta(2)) solutions in conditions approximating those of the isoelectric focusing, i.e. at 5 degrees C and very low concentration of KCl. The variation of the DeltapH(deox.-ox.) curve as a function of pH (ox.) was similar to the isoelectric-focusing curve relating the variation of DeltapI(deox.-ox.) versus pI(ox.) in various haemoglobins with Bohr factor identical with that of haemoglobin A(0). In haemoglobin A(0) the DeltapI(deox.-ox.) value is 0.17 pH unit, which corresponds to a difference of 1.20 positive charges between the oxy and deoxy states of the tetrameric haemoglobin. This value compares favourably with the values of the intrinsic Bohr effect estimated in back-titration experiments. The DeltapI(deox.-ox.) values of mutant or chemically modified haemoglobins carrying an abnormality at the N- or C-terminus of the alpha-chains are decreased by 30% compared with the DeltapI value measured in haemoglobin A(0). When the C-terminus of the beta-chains is altered, as in Hb Nancy (alpha(2)beta(Tyr-145-->Asp) (2)), we observed a 70% decrease in the DeltapI value compared with that measured in haemoglobin A(0). These values are in close agreement with the estimated respective roles of the two major Bohr groups, Val-1alpha and His-146beta, at the origin of the intrinsic alkaline Bohr effect [Kilmartin, Fogg, Luzzana & Rossi-Bernardi (1973) J. Biol. Chem.248, 7039-7043; Perutz, Kilmartin, Nishikura, Fogg, Butler & Rollema (1980) J. Mol. Biol.138, 649-670]. In other mutant haemoglobins it is demonstrated also that the DeltapI(deox.-ox.) value may be decreased or even suppressed when the substitution affects residues involved in the stability of the tetramer. These results support the interpretation proposed by Perutz, Kilmartin, Nishikura, Fogg, Butler & Rollema [(1980), J. Mol. Biol.138, 649-670] for the mechanism of the alkaline Bohr effect, and also indicate that the transition between the two quaternary configurations is a prerequisite for the full expression of the alkaline Bohr effect.

Oxygen equilibrium curves (OEC) for human red blood cells (RBC) have revealed a large asymmetry with an nmax value reached at approximately 90% saturation. This contrasts with the symmetrical shape of the OEC for diluted HbA solutions. We prepared resealed red blood cells (RRBC) through controlled hemolysis and resealing in order to obtain a low Hb concentration (approximately equal to 60 g/L) and DPG/Hb4 molar ratio ranging from 0.2 to 4. When the DPG/Hb4 was close to unity, OEC still showed a large asymmetry. On the contrary, the OEC became symmetrical when DPG/Hb4 was either negligible or 3-4 fold the normal value. The asymmetrical OEC for intact RBC can be fitted with a theoretical model taking into account the variations of free DPG concentration during oxygenation. We conclude that the asymmetrical shape of OEC observed in intact fresh RBC is not due to the high protein concentration present in the RBC but to a functional heterogeneity of Hb due to the changes of the free 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG) concentration during oxygenation.