New transient species of sperm whale myoglobin in photodissociation of dioxygen from oxymyoglobin

We carried out the flash photolysis of oxy complexes of sperm whale myoglobin, cobalt-substituted sperm whale myoglobin, and Aplysia myoglobin. When the optical absorption spectral changes associated with the O2 rebinding were monitored on the nanosecond to millisecond time scale, we found that the transient spectra of the O2 photoproduct of sperm whale myoglobin were significantly different from the static spectra of deoxy form. This was sharply contrasted with the observations that the spectra of the CO photoproduct of sperm whale myoglobin and of the O2 photoproducts of cobalt-substituted sperm whale myoglobin and Aplysia myoglobin are identical to the corresponding spectra of their deoxy forms. These results led us to suggest the presence of a fairly stable transient species in the O2 photodissociation from the oxy complex of sperm whale myoglobin, which has a protein structure different from the deoxy form. We denoted the O2 photo-product to be Mb*. In the time-resolved resonance Raman measurements, the nu Fe-His mode of Mb* gave the same value as that of the deoxy form, indicating that the difference in the optical absorption spectra is possibly due to the structural difference at the heme distal side rather than those of the proximal side. The structure of Mb* is discussed in relation to the dynamic motion of myoglobin in the O2 entry to or exit from the heme pocket. Comparing the structural characteristics of several myoglobins employed, we suggested that the formation of Mb* relates to the following two factors: a hydrogen bonding of O2 with the distal histidine, and the movement of iron upon the ligation of O2.