title: Cobalt probing of structural alternatives for insulin in solution.
abstract: Inorganic anions and phenolic compounds make the subunits of insulin hexamers undergo the T----R transition whereby the extended N-terminal B chain becomes helical and the octahedral metal coordination tetrahedral. The role of the metal ions is permissive. With cresol the transition is also undergone by metal-free hexamers. For coordinative reasons only zinc insulin can be transformed by moderate concentrations of inorganic anions. At higher concentrations and particularly with cresol transformation is also possible if Zn2+ is replaced by other metal ions. Owing to its d--d transitions in the visible cobalt lends itself as a spectroscopic probe for studying the interdependence of transformation and coordination. The transformation-related change in coordination is reflected in both the isotropic absorption and the CD spectrum. Cresol achieves T6----R6 transformation whereas that induced by SCN- ions is T6----T'3R3 with only the axial metal-binding site being realized in the R3 trimer. The spectral effects of the transformation of the two trimers are not additive; an extra contribution seems to be indicative of trimer/trimer interaction. Oxidation of 2 Co2+ insulin to a certain extent affects the structure of insulin; a characteristic positive band appears at 251 nm. Because of its extremely stable and exclusively octahedral complexes the Co3+ ion most strongly withstands transformation. The oxidation of tetrahedrally liganded Co2+ ions in R3 trimers proceeds with reduced velocity. Independent transformation of the Zn2+ trimers is possible in Zn2+/Co3+ metal hybrids of insulin.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biochemie, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wollmer
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000818:Animals; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003035:Cobalt; D003408:Cresols; D007328:Insulin; D007700:Kinetics; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011817:Rabbits; D012996:Solutions; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D003408:Cresols; D007328:Insulin; D012996:Solutions; D003035:Cobalt