title: The contribution of the asymmetric alpha 1beta 1 half-oxygenated intermediate to human hemoglobin cooperativity.
abstract: Considerable controversy remains as to the functional and structural properties of the asymmetric alpha1beta1 half-oxygenated intermediate of human hemoglobin, consisting of a deoxygenated and an oxygenated dimer. A recent dimer-tetramer equilibrium study using [Zn(II)/Fe(II)-O(2)] hybrid hemoglobins, in which Zn-protoporphyrin IX mimics a deoxyheme, showed that the key intermediate, [alpha(Fe-O(2))beta(Fe-O(2))][alpha(Zn)beta(Zn)], exhibited an enhanced tetramer stability relative to the other doubly oxygenated species. This is one of the strongest findings in support of distinctly favorable intra-dimer cooperativity within the tetramer. However, we present here a different conclusion drawn from direct O(2) binding experiments for the same asymmetric hybrid, [alpha(Fe)beta(Fe)][alpha(Zn)beta(Zn)], and those for [alpha(Fe)beta(Zn)](2) and [alpha(Zn)beta(Fe)](2). In this study, the O(2) equilibrium curves for [alpha(Fe)beta(Fe)][alpha(Zn)beta(Zn)] were determined by an O(2)-jump stopped-flow technique to circumvent the problem of dimer rearrangement, and those for [alpha(Fe)beta(Zn)]( 2) and [alpha(Zn)beta(Fe)]( 2) were measured by using an Imai apparatus. It was shown that the first and second O(2) equilibrium constants for [alpha(Fe)beta(Fe)][alpha(Zn)beta(Zn)] are 0.0209 mmHg(-1) and 0.0276 mmHg(-1), respectively, that are almost identical to those for [alpha(Fe)beta(Zn)](2) or [alpha(Zn)beta(Fe)](2). Therefore, we did not observe large difference among the asymmetric and symmetric hybrids. The discrepancy between the present and previous studies is mainly due to previously observed negative cooperativity for [alpha(Fe)beta(Zn)](2) and [alpha(Zn)beta(Fe)](2), which is not the case in our direct O(2) binding study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Jichi Medical School, Yakushiji 3311-1, Minamikawachi, Kawachi, Tochigi 329-0498, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyung-Mook
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shibayama
mesh_terms: D019281:Dimerization; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D008024:Ligands; D010100:Oxygen