scholarly journals The quarternary structure of an unusual high-molecular-weight intracellular haemoglobin from the bivalve mollusc Barbatia reeveana

1980 ◽  
Vol 189 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P. Grinich ◽  
Robert C. Terwilliger

The arcid clam Barbatia reeveana contains an intracellular haemoglobin with an unusual structure. First, compared with other intracellular haemoglobins, it is extremely large, with a mol.wt. of 430000 and an s20,w of 13.6S. A minor component (mol.wt.=220000; s20,w=9.7S) is also present as a probable dissociation product of the major component. Secondly, this haemoglobin has an unusual subunit structure. It contains 1mol of haem per 16000g of protein, in common with most other haemoglobins. However, the smallest polypeptide that could be obtained after treatment with sodium dodecyl sulphate or 6m-guanidine with reducing agent has a mol.wt. of 32000–37000. Digestion of the haemoglobin with the proteinase subtilisin produces both 57000- and 30000-mol.wt. aggregates that contain 1mol of haem per 16000g of protein and that can be dissociated into 16500-mol.wt. polypeptides by treatment with sodium dodecyl sulphate. The intact polymer shows slight co-operativity (h=1.7), lacks a Bohr effect between pH7 and 8, and has a low oxygen affinity [P50=4.8kPa (36mmHg) at 20°C] relative to other haemoglobins. The 30000-mol.wt. aggregate obtained by digestion of the polymer binds oxygen reversibly with an affinity greater than that of the polymer, but with some co-operativity (h=1.7). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the subunits of this unusually large intracellular haemoglobin are 32000-mol.wt. polypeptides that in turn are composed of two covalently linked haem-containing oxygen-binding domains. This is the first report of an intracellular haemoglobin with such a structure.

2008 ◽  
Vol 276 (1658) ◽  
pp. 833-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øivind Andersen ◽  
Ola Frang Wetten ◽  
Maria Cristina De Rosa ◽  
Carl Andre ◽  
Cristiana Carelli Alinovi ◽  
...  

A major challenge in evolutionary biology is to identify the genes underlying adaptation. The oxygen-transporting haemoglobins directly link external conditions with metabolic needs and therefore represent a unique system for studying environmental effects on molecular evolution. We have discovered two haemoglobin polymorphisms in Atlantic cod populations inhabiting varying temperature and oxygen regimes in the North Atlantic. Three-dimensional modelling of the tetrameric haemoglobin structure demonstrated that the two amino acid replacements Met55β 1 Val and Lys62β 1 Ala are located at crucial positions of the α 1 β 1 subunit interface and haem pocket, respectively. The replacements are proposed to affect the oxygen-binding properties by modifying the haemoglobin quaternary structure and electrostatic feature. Intriguingly, the same molecular mechanism for facilitating oxygen binding is found in avian species adapted to high altitudes, illustrating convergent evolution in water- and air-breathing vertebrates to reduction in environmental oxygen availability. Cod populations inhabiting the cold Arctic waters and the low-oxygen Baltic Sea seem well adapted to these conditions by possessing the high oxygen affinity Val55–Ala62 haplotype, while the temperature-insensitive Met55–Lys62 haplotype predominates in the southern populations. The distinct distributions of the functionally different haemoglobin variants indicate that the present biogeography of this ecologically and economically important species might be seriously affected by global warming.


1976 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 893-899 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Hlastala ◽  
H. P. McKenna ◽  
R. L. Franada ◽  
J. C. Detter

The oxygen dissociation curve and Bohr effect were measured in normal whole blood as a function of carboxyhemoglobin concentration [HbCO]. pH was changed by varying CO2 concentration (CO2 Bohr effect) or by addition of isotonic NaOH or HCl at constant PCO2 (fixed acid Bohr effect). As [HbCO] varied through the range of 2, 25, 50, and 75%, P50 was 26.3, 18.0, 11.6, and 6.5 mmHg, respectively. CO2 Bohr effect was highest at low oxygen saturations. This effect did not change as [HbCO] was increased. However, as [HbCO] was increased from 2 to 75%, the fixed acid Bohr factor increased in magnitude from -0.20 to -0.80 at very low oxygen saturations. The effect of molecular CO2 binding (carbamino) on oxygen affinity was eliminated at high [HbCO]. These results are consistent with the initial binding of O2 or CO to thealpha-chain of hemoglobin. The results also suggest that heme-heme interaction is different for oxygen than for carbon monoxide.


1971 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 623-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne M. S. Marr ◽  
A. Neuberger ◽  
Wendy A. Ratcliffe

1. Tamm–Horsfall glycoprotein from rabbit urine has been isolated and characterized. The homogeneity of the preparation has been established by a variety of procedures including disc gel electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation in aqueous solution, sodium dodecyl sulphate and formic acid. 2. The chemical composition has been determined and a carbohydrate content of approx. 31% was obtained. The relative contents of the amino acids were shown to be very similar to those in human Tamm–Horsfall glycoprotein. A trace of lipid was also detected. 3. Leucine was identified as the only N-terminal amino acid. 4. The subunit structure was investigated in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate by gel filtration and disc gel electrophoresis. These studies indicated that the subunit possessed a molecular weight of approx. 84000±6000. A similar value was obtained after reduction and S-alkylation of the glycoprotein indicating that the disulphide bonds were all intrachain. 5. A minimum value for the chemical molecular weight of 85000±6000 was obtained from the number of N-terminal amino acids released by cyanogen bromide cleavage of the glycoprotein. 6. The immunological properties of the glycoprotein were studied. Cross reactivity was demonstrated between human Tamm–Horsfall glycoprotein and a guinea-pig anti-rabbit Tamm–Horsfall antiserum.


1972 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Cammack ◽  
D. I. Marlborough ◽  
D. S. Miller

1. l-Asparaginases from Erwinia carotovora and Escherichia coli (EC2 enzyme) are both capable of inhibiting and eliminating certain types of tumour cells. The Er. carotovora enzyme is a more basic protein, however, and in contrast with the EC2 enzyme it contains neither tryptophan nor cystine, and disulphide bonds are therefore absent. The molecule is very stable in solution from pH3.0 to about pH12.0, and is somewhat more stable at alkaline pH than is the Esch. coli enzyme. Calculations based on a s020,w 7.43S and a sedimentation-equilibrium molecular weight of 135000±10000 give a frictional ratio (f/f0) of 1.08. The molecular conformation is therefore very compact in solution, and the electron microscope shows the negatively stained molecules as almost spherical particles with a diameter of 7.2±0.7nm. 2. Sedimentation-velocity and equilibrium ultracentrifugation, in 5–8m solutions of urea and guanidinium chloride, and also electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel, reveal a dissociation of the native protein molecule into four subunits of similar molecular weight in the range 32500–38000. The enzymically inactive subunits can be physically reassembled into an active tetramer when urea is removed by dialysis. Although the subunit structures of the Er. carotovora enzyme and the Esch. coli enzyme molecules are similar, the secondary bonding forces holding the subunits together in the tetramer are somewhat stronger in the Er. carotovora enzyme. 3. The optical-rotatory-dispersion (o.r.d.) parameters that characterize the Cotton effects arising from ordered structure in the molecule are [m′]233=−3522±74° and [m′]200=9096±1700°. These show very marked changes as the secondary structure is disrupted and the molecule dissociates into subunits. A correlation pathway was traced on the basis of o.r.d. parameters and enzyme activity as the polypeptide chains were denatured and renatured (and reconstituted) into active molecules after the dilution of solutions in urea. Subunits resulting from treatment with sodium dodecyl sulphate do not show the typically disordered o.r.d. profile, but nevertheless they are inactive.


1987 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jawed Siddiqui ◽  
Ather H. Siddiqi

ABSTRACTGastrothylax crumenifer haemoglobin was isolated, purified, chromatographed, and its molecular weight determined on a calibrated Sephadex G–100 column as well as by sodium dodecyl sulphate by the former and 16 500 by the latter method. The oxygen affinity of the pigment (P50O2) was found to be 6·1 mm Hg at pH 7·4.


1984 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-279
Author(s):  
VILHELM TETENS ◽  
RUFUS M. G. WELLS ◽  
ARTHUR L. DEVRIES

1. The effects of thermal acclimation on whole blood oxygen affinity were examined in the antarctic fish Pagothenia borchgrevinki. 2. 4.5°C-acclimated fish had a P50 value of 26.7 mmHg at pH 8.1, compared to 20.7 mmHg for −1.5°C-acclimated fish. The apparent heat of oxygenation, ΔH = −26.7 kJ mol−1, is comparable to values for temperate species. 3. Warm-acclimation was followed by an increased ATP: Hb4 molar ratio, resulting in an augmentation of the thermal effect on oxy-haemoglobin affinity. This may be considered adaptive in a constantly well oxygenated environment, where oxygen loading at the gills is secured. Unloading to the tissues is thereby enhanced, supporting an elevated rate of aerobic metabolism at higher temperatures. 4. In vivo blood pH was high, between 8.10 and 8.25 at −1.5°C. Astrup titration revealed arterial CO2 tensions of less than 0.8 mmHg, indicating relative hyperventilation and low oxygen extraction efficiency in antarctic fish. 5. Blood oxygen affinities of four antarctic nototheniid species were low (P50 between 11.9 and 20.7 mmHg at pH 8.1 and --1.5°C) in comparison with the temperate species Notothenia angustata (P50 = 10.8 mmHg). The zoarcid Rhigophila dearborni had a high blood oxygen affinity (P50 = 4.3 mmHg). Blood oxygen-binding properties are discussed in relation to the polar environment, mode of life, and the concept of cold adaptation.


1982 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-243
Author(s):  
G. P. DOBSON ◽  
J. BALDWIN

1. The regulation of whole blood oxygen affinity in the freshwater blackfish Gadopsis marmoratus Richardson has been examined, and correlations made between oxygen-binding properties and the habitat and swimming behaviour of the fish. 2. Blackfish whole blood has a low oxygen affinity relative to other fish bloods reported in the literature. This is not due to a low oxygen affinity of the stripped haemoglobins, but arises from interactions between haemoglobin and intraerythrocytic modulators. 3. The presence of high concentrations of ATP, and to a lesser extent GTP, in the erythrocyte, together with the effect of these nucleoside triphosphates on the oxygen affinity of haemoglobin solutions at physiological NTP: Hb4 molar ratios, demonstrates that this class of compounds is a major regulator of oxygen affinity in blackfish blood. 4. The oxygen affinities of whole blood and haemoglobin solutions are sensitive to pH, with haemoglobin solutions displaying a relatively large alkaline Bohr coefficient of - 1.05 over the physiologically relevant pH range of 6.5–7.0. 5. Although increasing Pco2, lowers the oxygen affinity of whole blood, it does so only through the effect on pH, as pH-buffered haemoglobin solutions show no oxygen-linked CO2 binding. This lack of oxygen-linked CO2 binding has not been reported for any other naturally occurring vertebrate haemoglobins. 6. Muscle morphology and biochemistry, and behavioural observations, indicate that the blackfish uses anaerobic energy metabolism during rapid swimming and in recovery. 7. It is concluded that the oxygen-binding properties of blackfish blood reflect adaptations for maintaining adequate tissue oxygenation for animals at rest and during slow sustained swimming in waters of high oxygen tensions.


1981 ◽  
Vol 193 (2) ◽  
pp. 621-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Yonemasu ◽  
T Sasaki

1. Mouse C1q, a subcomponent of the first component of complement, has been purified in a highly haemolytically active form by a combination of precipitation with EGTA, ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. Yields ranged from 3 to 5 mg/200 ml of serum, and the activity of final preparations was in the range of 2 × 10(13)-4 × 10(13) C1q effective molecules/mg. 2. The molecular weight of mouse C1q was 439 500 +/- 1586, as determined by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. 3. Mouse C1q was shown to be composed of non-covalently linked subunits, all being in the molecular-weight range 45 000-46 000, and three covalently linked chains each having a molecular weight of approx. 23 000 as determined on polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate by using non-covalently and covalently linked subunits of human C1q as markers with known molecular weights calculated theoretically previously [Porter & Reid (1978) Nature (London) 275, 699-704]. 4. Mouse C1q contained hydroxyproline, hydroxylysine, a high percentage of glycine and approx. 9% carbohydrate. The absorption coefficient and nitrogen content of C1q were also determined.


1970 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Fletcher ◽  
A. Neuberger ◽  
Wendy A. Ratcliffe

1. Subunit molecular weights of 76000–82000 were obtained for native and alkylated Tamm–Horsfall glycoprotein by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. 2. A further estimate of the subunit molecular weight of 79000±4000 was obtained by disc gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate. 3. A minimum value of the chemical molecular weight of 79000±6000 was obtained from the number of N-terminal amino acids released by cyanogen bromide cleavage of the glycoprotein. 4. Similar values were obtained for the subunit molecular weight of Tamm–Horsfall glycoprotein from patients with cystic fibrosis. 5. On ultracentrifugation both in 1.0% sodium dodecyl sulphate and in 70% formic acid, Tamm–Horsfall glycoprotein sedimented as a single component, slightly faster than serum albumin. 6. On reduction of the disulphide bonds the same subunit molecular weight was obtained, which suggested that these bonds are intrachain.


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