title: Binding of iodomercurates to sulfhydryl-blocked beta-lactoglobulin-A, -B, and -C.
abstract: Sulfhydryl-blocked beta-lactoglobulins (beta-LG-S-SCH2CH2OH)-A, -B, and -C bind only one iodomercurate species, HgI3-, at only one site, with a dissociation constant of 4.0 X 10(-5) M at 25 degrees, pH 5.0, 0.10 ionic strength. (Binding to native beta-LG-SH-A, -B, and -C is more complex, involving the sulfhydryl and two other sites and several iodomercurates.) The red shift of the HgI3- spectrum on binding would ordinarily suggest a hydrophobic site, but the HgI3- site is distinct from, and independent of, the alkane-binding site of native and blocked beta-LG; HgI3- may bind a group that shifts its trigonal planar structure toward the tetrahedron of HgI4(2-). Binding of HgI3- to blocked beta-LG interferes with the well-known association of beta-LG-A to octamers at pH 4.6 and low temperature. The relation of the HgI3- site to the crystallographic iodomercurate-binding sites of beta-LG-SH is examined. To facilitate these and future studies of iodomercurate binding, the 200-400 nm spectra of HgI2, HgI3-, and HgI4(2-) in aqueous solutions and the thermodynamic formation constants at 25 degrees for the equilibria HgI2 + I- = HgI3- (4.9 X 10(3) M-1) and HgI3- + I- = HgI4(2-) (0.118 X 10(3) M-1) were obtained.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D007455:Iodine / Q000378:metabolism*; D007782:Lactoglobulins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008628:Mercury / Q000378:metabolism*; D008892:Milk / Q000032:analysis; D011485:Protein Binding; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D007782:Lactoglobulins; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D007455:Iodine; D008628:Mercury