Mechanism of band 3 dimer dissociation during incubation of erythrocyte membranes at 37 °C
The mechanism of dissociation of the stable dimer of band 3 was investigated during the incubation of isolated erythrocyte membranes or resealed ghosts at 37 °C. The kinetics of changes in the structural and functional integrity of the membrane domain of band 3 (MDB3) were measured and correlated with the change in the Stokes radius of band 3. MDB3 integrity was determined as follows: (1) by measuring the fluorescence emission spectrum of 4,4ʹ-di-isothiocyanostilbene-2,2ʹ-disulphonate (DIDS) bound covalently to MDB3; (2) by measuring the number of DIDS covalent binding sites present after incubation of unlabelled resealed ghosts; and (3) by measuring the anion transport Vmax by using the same resealed ghosts. Incubation of membranes at 37 °C caused the dissociation of band 3 dimers to monomers but only after a lag period lasting approx. 50 h. The observation of such a lag implies that dissociation involves a sequence of molecular events beginning with some type of initial process. We have discovered that this initial process involves a conformation change in MDB3. There was a shift in the fluorescence spectrum for DIDS-labelled band 3 and a decrease in the DIDS binding capacity and transport activity of the unlabelled protein. Incubation of membranes at 4 °C inhibited the conformational change in MDB3 and the dissociation of dimers. Furthermore, no conformational change in MDB3 was observed when erythrocytes were incubated at 37 °C. We suggest that MDB3 unfolding is the molecular event responsible for the subsequent dissociation of stable dimers of band 3 to monomers during the incubation of erythrocyte membranes at 37 °C. The monomers so generated are either not functional in anion exchange or they have an attenuated functionality. The absence of a conformational change for band 3 in erythrocytes might imply that haemolysis perturbs the membrane structure and somehow predisposes band 3 to the conformational change that occurs during incubation at 37 °C.