The crystal structure of a tetrameric hemoglobin in a partial hemichrome state
Tetrameric hemoglobins are the most widely used systems in studying protein cooperativity. Allosteric effects in hemoglobins arise from the switch between a relaxed (R) state and a tense (T) state occurring upon oxygen release. Here we report the 2.0-Å crystal structure of the main hemoglobin compon...
| Published in: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The National Academy of Sciences
2002
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC125021 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12093902 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.132182099 |
| Summary: | Tetrameric hemoglobins are the most widely used systems in studying protein cooperativity. Allosteric effects in hemoglobins arise from the switch between a relaxed (R) state and a tense (T) state occurring upon oxygen release. Here we report the 2.0-Å crystal structure of the main hemoglobin component of the Antarctic fish Trematomus newnesi, in a partial hemichrome form. The two α-subunit iron atoms are bound to a CO molecule, whereas in the β subunits the distal histidine residue is the sixth ligand of the heme iron. This structure, a tetrameric hemoglobin in the hemichrome state, demonstrates that the iron coordination by the distal histidine, usually associated with denaturing states, may be tolerated in a native-like hemoglobin structure. In addition, several features of the tertiary and quaternary organization of this structure are intermediate between the R and T states and agree well with the R → T transition state properties obtained by spectroscopic and kinetic techniques. The analysis of this structure provides a detailed pathway of heme–heme communication and it indicates that the plasticity of the β heme pocket plays a role in the R → T transition of tetrameric hemoglobins. |
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