A magnetic study of acidic ferric hemoglobin

In this article, we have extensively studied and discussed the magnetic properties of acidic ferric hemoglobin and its isolated chains. The magnetic susceptibility, EPR and optical spectra of those samples were measured in the temperature region below 77 degrees K. By the magnetic susceptibility measurements, it could be made clear that at an acidic pH value, both ferric hemoglobin and its isolated chains were constituted of a mixture of two spin states (high-spin state S = 5/2 and low-spin state S = 1/2) and the ratio of this mixture varied in each protein sample, but was independent of the temperature change below 77 degrees K. The co-existence of these two components could be ascertained by the observation of EPR spectra at liquid hydrogen temperature. Acidic ferric hemoglobin and its isolated chains exhibited the two components of EPR spectra which corresponded to their magnetic susceptibility, and it was found that the relaxation time of the low-spin state was longer than that of the high-spin state. The low-spin component of EPR spectra was almost undetectable at liquid nitrogen temperature. The three principal g values of this low-spin were gz = 2.80, gy = 2.20, and gx = 1.70. At alkaline pH values these low-spin components and the high-spin component of EPR spectra were displaced by the different low-spin spectra which corresponded to the ferric hemoglobin-hydroxide complex. It seems that the magnetic properties of the high-spin component are the same as the acidic ferric myoglobin, and the fine structure of the iron ion also seems to be same. Optical spectroscopy also gave similar magnetic properties which corresponded to the magnetic measurements.     

Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy as a probe of coordination structure in green heme systems: iron chlorins and iron formylporphyrins reconstituted into myoglobin

A series of ferric low-spin derivatives of myoglobin containing its natural prosthetic group, iron protoporphyrin IX, and reconstituted with iron heme s (a formyl-substituted porphyrin) and iron methylchlorin have been examined using low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Good agreement is observed between the EPR properties of parallel derivatives of natural myoglobin and heme s-myoglobin. Likewise, the EPR properties of parallel adducts of three types of iron chlorins, methylchlorin-myoglobin, sulfyomyoglobin (a myoglobin derivative known to contain a chlorin macrocycle) and synthetic chlorin models are similar to each other. The ferric chlorin systems are shown to exhibit increased tetragonality and decreased rhombicity values relative to protoporphyrin/formylporphyrin systems. Thus, EPR spectroscopy is a very useful technique with which to probe the coordination structure of naturally occurring iron chlorin proteins and the method can be used to distinguish between proteins containing iron formylporphyrins and iron chlorin prosthetic groups.     

M?ssbauer and EPR studies of the photoactivation of nitrile hydratase.

The alphabeta dimer of active nitrile hydratase from Rhodococcus sp. R312 contains one low-spin ferric ion that is coordinated by three Cys residues, two N-amide groups from the protein backbone, and one OH(-). The enzyme isolated from bacteria grown in the dark is inactive and contains the iron site as a six-coordinate diamagnetic Fe-nitrosyl complex, called NH(dark). The active state can be obtained from the dark state by photolysis of the Fe-NO bond at room temperature. Activation is accompanied by the conversion of NH(dark) to a low-spin ferric complex, NH(light), exhibiting an S = (1)/(2) EPR signal with g values of 2.27, 2.13, and 1.97. We have characterized both NH(dark) and NH(light) with M?ssbauer spectroscopy. The z-axis of the 57Fe magnetic hyperfine tensor, A, of NH(light) was found to be rotated by approximately 45 degrees relative to the z-axis of the g tensor (g(z) = 1.97). Comparison of the A tensor of NH(light) with the A tensors of low-spin ferric hemes indicates a substantially larger degree of covalency for nitrile hydratase. We have also performed photolysis experiments between 2 and 20 K and characterized the photolyzed products by EPR and M?ssbauer spectroscopy. Photolysis at 4.2 K in the M?ssbauer spectrometer yielded a five-coordinate low-spin ferric species, NH(A), which converted back into NH(dark) when the sample was briefly warmed to 77 K. We also describe preliminary EPR photolysis studies that have yielded new intermediates.     

Extensive studies of the heme coordination structure of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and of tryptophan binding with magnetic and natural circular dichroism and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

In order to probe the active site of the heme protein indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, magnetic and natural circular dichroism (MCD and CD) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies of the substrate (L-tryptophan)-free and substrate-bound enzyme with and without various exogenous ligands have been carried out. The MCD spectra of the ferric and ferrous derivatives are similar to those of the analogous myoglobin and horseradish peroxidase species. This provides strong support for histidine imidazole as the fifth ligand to the heme iron of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. The substrate-free native ferric enzyme exhibits predominantly high-spin EPR signals (g perpendicular = 6, g parallel = 2) along with weak low-spin signals (g perpendicular = 2.86, 2.28, 1.60); similar EPR, spin-state and MCD features are found for the benzimidazole adduct of ferric myoglobin. This suggests that the substrate-free ferric enzyme has a sterically hindered histidine imidazole nitrogen donor sixth ligand. Upon substrate binding, noticeable MCD and EPR spectral changes are detected that are indicative of an increased low spin content (from 30 to over 70% at ambient temperature). Concomitantly, new low spin EPR signals (g = 2.53, 2.18, 1.86) and MCD features characteristic of hydroxide complexes of histidine-ligated heme proteins appear. For almost all of the other ferric and ferrous derivatives, only small substrate effects are observed with MCD spectroscopy, while substantial substrate effects are seen with CD spectroscopy. Thus, changes in the heme coordination structure of the ferric enzyme and in the protein conformation at the active site of the ferric and ferrous enzyme are induced by substrate binding. The observed substrate effects on the ferric enzyme may correlate with the previously observed kinetic substrate inhibition of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity, while such effects on the ferrous enzyme suggest the possibility that the substrate is activated during turnover.     

Hexaheme nitrite reductase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans. M?ssbauer and EPR characterization of the heme groups

M?ssbauer and EPR spectroscopy were used to characterize the heme prosthetic groups of the nitrite reductase isolated from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (ATCC 27774), which is a membrane-bound multiheme cytochrome capable of catalyzing the 6-electron reduction of nitrite to ammonia. At pH 7.6, the as-isolated enzyme exhibited a complex EPR spectrum consisting of a low-spin ferric heme signal at g = 2.96, 2.28, and 1.50 plus several broad resonances indicative of spin-spin interactions among the heme groups. EPR redox titration studies revealed yet another low-spin ferric heme signal at g = 3.2 and 2.14 (the third g value was undetected) and the presence of a high-spin ferric heme. M?ssbauer measurements demonstrated further that this enzyme contained six distinct heme groups: one high-spin (S = 5/2) and five low-spin (S = 1/2) ferric hemes. Characteristic hyperfine parameters for all six hemes were obtained through a detailed analysis of the M?ssbauer spectra. D. desulfuricans nitrite reductase can be reduced by chemical reductants, such as dithionite or reduced methyl viologen, or by hydrogenase under hydrogen atmosphere. Addition of nitrite to the fully reduced enzyme reoxidized all five low-spin hemes to their ferric states. The high-spin heme, however, was found to complex NO, suggesting that the high-spin heme could be the substrate binding site and that NO could be an intermediate present in an enzyme-bound form.     

Electron paramagnetic resonance and magnetic circular dichroism studies of a hexa-heme nitrite reductase from Wolinella succinogenes

The nature of the heme centers in the hexa-heme dissimilatory nitrite reductase from the bacterium Wolinella succinogenes has been investigated with EPR and magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy. The EPR spectrum of the ferric enzyme is complex showing, in addition to magnetically isolated low-spin ferric hemes with g values of 2.93, 2.3 and 1.48, two sets of signals at g = 10.3, 3.7 and 4.8, 3.21, which we assign to two pairs of exchange coupled hemes. The MCD spectra show that the isolated hemes are bis-histidine coordinated and that there is one high-spin ferric heme. The exchange coupling is lost on treatment with SDS.     

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance study of the molecular and electronic structure of the heme cavity in Aplysia cyanometmyoglobin

The 1H NMR spectrum of the low-spin, cyanide-ligated ferric complex of the myoglobin from the mollusc Aplysia limacina has been investigated. All of the resolved resonances from both the hemin and the proximal histidine have been assigned by a combination of isotope labeling, spin decoupling, analysis of differential paramagnetic relaxation, and nuclear Overhauser (NOE) experiments. The pattern of the heme contact shifts is unprecedented for low-spin ferric hemoproteins in exhibiting minimal rhombic asymmetry. This low in-plane asymmetry is correlated with the X-ray-determined orientation of the proximal histidyl imidazole plane relative to the heme and provides an important test case for the interpretation of hyperfine shifts of low-spin ferric hemoproteins. The bonding of the proximal histidine is shown to be similar to that in sperm whale myoglobin and is largely unperturbed by conformational transitions down to pH approximately 4. The two observed conformational transitions appear to be linked to the titration of the two heme propionate groups, which are suggested to exist in various orientations as a function of both pH and temperature. Heme orientational disorder in the ratio 5:1 was demonstrated by both isotope labeling and NOE experiments. The exchange rate with bulk water of the proximal histidyl labile ring proton is faster in Aplysia than in sperm whale myoglobin, consistent with a greater tendency for local unfolding of the heme pocket in the former protein. A similar increased heme pocket lability in Aplysia myoglobin has been noted in the rate of heme reorientation [Bellelli, A., Foon, R., Ascoli, F., & Brunori, M. (1987) Biochem. J. 246, 787-789].     

Correlations among parameters that describe low-spin ferric heme complexes

The g values from low-spin ferric hemes can be related through the t2g hole model to rhombic (V/lambda) and tetragonal (delta/lambda) ligand field components and to the lowest Kramer's doublet energy (E/lambda). The latter is also a measure of unpaired electron sharing among the iron 3d (t2g) orbitals. For a series of ligands (X), there is a monotonic increase in myoglobin complex (Mb . X) [E/lambda] values with nonheme hexacoordinate metal complex (M . X6) [eg-t2gPg] orbital separations. As the aqueous solution pKa values of the sulfurous or nitrogenous ligands in model heme complexes increase, values of V/lambda and delta/lambda increase linearly, but those of [E/lambda] decrease linearly. The greater the electron-acceptor ability of the ligand, as suggested by its position in the spectrochemical series or its pKa, the more the unpaired electron sharing among the heme t2g orbitals increases. The rate of change of [E/lambda] with V/lambda and the pKa is different with sulfurous and nitrogenous ligands, and the magnitude of both rates increases with two sulfurs less than sulfur and nitrogen less than two nitrogens bound to the heme. The maximum magnitude of this rate with V/lambda for cytochrome P-450 is four times less than that for myoglobin, which may explain, in part, the differences in ligand binding between these two hemeproteins. The perturbation of [E/lambda], V/lambda, and delta/lambda induced by strain of iron-ligand bonds is quantitated for several hemeproteins and heme models. In addition, energy level comparisons suggest that the largest-magnitude g value falls approximately along the iron-chlorin ring normal. This suggestion implies that the electron distribution of the iron at the catalytic sites of cytochrome P-450 and certain chlorin-containing enzymes is in some way similar, but distinct from that at the transport site of myoglobin.     

Magnetic circular dichroism studies of the active site heme coordination sphere of exogenous ligand-free ferric cytochrome c peroxidase from yeast: effects of sample history and pH

Electronic absorption and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopic data at 4 degrees C are reported for exogenous ligand-free ferric forms of cytochrome c peroxidase (CCP) in comparison with two other histidine-ligated heme proteins, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and myoglobin (Mb). In particular, we have examined the ferric states of yeast wild-type CCP (YCCP), CCP (MKT) which is the form of the enzyme that is expressed in and purified from E. coli, and contains Met-Lys-Thr (MKT) at the N-terminus, CCP (MKT) in the presence of 60% glycerol, lyophilized YCCP, and alkaline CCP (MKT). The present study demonstrates that, while having similar electronic absorption spectra, the MCD spectra of ligand-free ferric YCCP and CCP (MKT) are somewhat varied from one another. Detailed spectral analyses reveal that the ferric form of YCCP, characterized by a long wavelength charge transfer (CT) band at 645 nm, exists in a predominantly penta-coordinate state with spectral features similar to those of native ferric HRP rather than ferric Mb (His/water hexa-coordinate). The electronic absorption spectrum of ferric CCP (MKT) is similar to those of the penta-coordinate states of ferric YCCP and ferric HRP including a CT band at 645 nm. However, its MCD spectrum shows a small trough at 583 nm that is absent in the analogous spectra of YCCP and HRP. Instead, this trough is similar to that seen for ferric myoglobin at about 585 nm, and is attributed (following spectral simulations) to a minor contribution (< or = 5%) in the spectrum of CCP (MKT) from a hexa-coordinate low-spin species in the form of a hydroxide-ligated heme. The MCD data indicate that the lyophilized sample of ferric YCCP (lambda CT = 637 nm) contains considerably increased amounts of hexa-coordinate low-spin species including both His/hydroxide and bis-His species. The crystal structure of a spectroscopically similar sample of CCP (MKT) (lambda CT = 637 nm) solved at 2.0 A resolution is consistent with His/hydroxide coordination. Alkaline CCP (pH 9.7) is proposed to exist as a mixture of hexa-coordinate, predominantly low-spin complexes with distal His 52 and hydroxide acting as distal ligands based on MCD spectral comparisons.     

Haem accessibility in cytochrome P-450 from rabbit liver. A proton magnetic relaxation study by stereochemical probes.

Cytochrome P-450 was solubilized from phenobarbital induced rabbit liver and purified by affinity chromatography. The longitudinal proton magnetic relaxation rates of this ferric, low-spin sample (as confirmed by ESR) in 20% glycerol aqueous solution are very large compared with low-spin methaemoglobin and myoglobin derivatives. Similarly high rates were measured in a deuterated solution using the aliphatic protons of glycerol as stereochemical markers, which strongly suggests that the haem iron in cytochrome P-450 is much more accessible to the solvent than in harmoglobin or myoglobin. Type I substate (Spasman) produced small but significant increases in NMR rates both in the H2O and in the 2H2O solution, while binding of aniline (Type II substrate) doubled the rates.     

Electron-paramagnetic-resonance studies of leghaemoglobins from soya-bean and cowpea root nodules. Identification of nitrosyl-leghaemoglobin in crude leghaemoglobin preparations

1. Leghaemoglobins from soya-bean (Glycine max) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) root nodules were purified by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose phosphate columns at pH8.0 and pH5.8, to avoid the relatively low pH (5.2) commonly used to purify these proteins. 2. E.p.r. (electron-paramagnetic-resonance) spectra of the fluoride, azide, hydroxide and cyanide complexes of these ferric leghaemoglobins were very similar to the spectra of the corresponding myoglobin derivatives, indicating that the immediate environment of the iron in leghaemoglobin and myoglobin is similar, an imidazole moiety of histidine being the proximal ligand to the haem iron [cf. Appleby, Blumberg, Peisach, Wittenberg & Wittenberg (1976) J. Biol. Chem.251, 6090-6096]. 3. E.p.r. spectra of the acid-metleghaemoglobins showed prominent high-spin features very near g=6 and g=2 and, unlike myoglobin, small low-spin absorptions near g=2.26, 2.72 and 3.14. The width of the g=6 absorption derivative at 10-20K was about 4-4.5mT, similar to the value for acid-methaemoglobin. In contrast, a recently published (Appleby et al., 1976) spectrum of acid-metleghaemoglobin a had less high-spin character and a much broader absorption derivative around g=6. 4. E.p.r. spectra of ferric leghaemoglobin nicotinate and imidazole complexes suggest that the low-spin absorption near g=3.14 can be attributed to a trace of ferric leghaemoglobin nicotinate, and those near g=2.26 and 2.72 are from an endogenous dihistidyl haemichrome. 5. A large e.p.r. signal at g=2 in all samples of crude leghaemoglobin was shown to be from nitrosyl-leghaemoglobin. A soya-bean sample contained 27+/-3% of the latter. A previously unidentified form of soya-bean ferrous leghaemoglobin a was shown to be its nitrosyl derivative. If this is not an artifact, and occurs in the root nodule, the nitrosyl radical may interfere with the function of leghaemoglobin.     

Coordination structure of the ferric heme iron in engineered distal histidine myoglobin mutants.

Recombinant human myoglobin mutants with the distal His residue (E7, His64) replaced by Leu, Val, or Gln residues were prepared by site-directed mutagenesis and expression in Escherichia coli. Electronic and coordination structures of the ferric heme iron in the recombinant myoglobin proteins were examined by optical absorption, EPR, 1H NMR, magnetic circular dichroism, and x-ray spectroscopy. Mutations, His-->Val and His-->Leu, remove the heme-bound water molecule resulting in a five-coordinate heme iron at neutral pH, while the heme-bound water molecule appears to be retained in the engineered myoglobin with His-->Gln substitution as in the wild-type protein. The distal Val and distal Leu ferric myoglobin mutants at neutral pH exhibited EPR spectra with g perpendicular values smaller than 6, which could be interpreted as an admixture of intermediate (S = 3/2) and high (S = 5/2) spin states. At alkaline pH, the distal Gln mutant is in the same so-called "hydroxy low spin" form as the wild-type protein, while the distal Leu and distal Val mutants are in high spin states. The ligand binding properties of these recombinant myoglobin proteins were studied by measurements of azide equilibrium and cyanide binding. The distal Leu and distal Val mutants exhibited diminished azide affinity and extremely slow cyanide binding, while the distal Gln mutant showed azide affinity and cyanide association rate constants similar to those of the wild-type protein.     

Gamma-glutamyltransferase activity of liver plasma membrane: induction following chronic alcohol consumption

The proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of soybean ferric leghemoglobin $\text{a}$ in the low-spin cyanide and nicotinate complexes have been assigned by specific deuteration of heme methyl groups. The assignments differ from those obtained solely from nuclear Overhauser enhancement measurements and are indicative of a proximal histidyl imidazole-hemin interaction which is very similar to that found in sperm whale myoglobin. The absence of a hyperfine shifted exchangeable NH peak for the distal histidine in leghemoglobin suggests either a very different orientation for this distal ligand or a significantly faster exchange rate with bulk solvent than found in myoglobin.     

A water network within a protein: temperature-dependent water ligation in H64V-metmyoglobin and relaxation to deoxymyoglobin

The sperm whale myoglobin mutant H64V, where the distal histidine is mutated to valine, is known to be five coordinated in the ferric state at room temperature and physiological pH. A change of the ligation in this H64V-Mbmet has been observed by optical absorption spectroscopy as a function of temperature from 20 K to 300 K. Above the dynamical transition at about 180 K one observes the temperature-dependent equilibrium between five- and six-ligated heme. Below the dynamical transition the equilibrium is frozen-in at about 50% of six-coordinate molecules. The water ligation of the iron occurs at temperatures where protein-specific motions are present, as monitored by M?ssbauer spectroscopy. The X-ray structures of H64V-Mbmet at 300 K and 110 K are reported with a resolution of 1.5 A and 1.3 A, respectively. The measurements at high resolutions are possible owing to crystallization in the space group P2(1), whereas all mutant myoglobins studies up to now have been carried out with crystals in the space group P6. The overall structure at both temperatures is very close to the native myoglobin. The binding of water at the sixth coordination site at lower temperatures is possible owing to a stabilizing water network extending from the protein surface to the active centre. The reduction of the H64V-Mbmet by electrons obtained by X-ray irradiation of the water-glycerol solvent at 85 K produces an intermediate low-spin state of the water-ligated molecules where Fe(II) retains the six-fold coordination. M?ssbauer spectroscopy shows that the relaxation of the metastable low-spin state to high-spin H64V-Mbdeoxy with dissociation of the Fe(II)-H(2)O bond starts at about 115 K and is completed at about 170 K. Differences in the dynamics properties of the native and mutant myoglobin and the connection to the dynamical transition around 180 K are discussed.     

Characterization of neutrophil b-type cytochrome in situ by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy at 4.2 K was successfully used to characterize neutrophil b-type cytochrome in situ. The spectra of resting neutrophils taken under aerobic conditions gave a set of characteristic signals in a high magnetic field (g = 2.85, 2.21 and 1.67) beside signals for myeloperoxidase and others. From the g values, shapes and the results of other experiments, these signals were attributed to those of cytochrome b558. The results indicate that cytochrome b558 in resting neutrophils is a hexa-coordinated ferric hemoprotein in a low-spin state. The obtained gz and gx values for the hemichrome were consistent with that of bis(imidazole)-coordinated hemoprotein.     

A possible model of hemoprotein-peroxide complexes formed in an iron-tetraphenylporphyrin system

A ferric low-spin species with an anomalously small g3-g1 separation generated by the reaction of Fe(III)tetraphenylporphyrin with t-butylhydroperoxide in the presence of tatramethylammonium hydroxide was characterized by ESR spectroscopy. The reaction kinetics, investigated by monitoring ESR intensity, indicated that this low-spin complex is highly reactive and easily changed to non-heme type iron complexes. The rhombic parameters of this complex are very similar to those of heme-peroxide adducts such as [Fe(II)-hemoglobin-O2]- and [Fe(II)-horseradish peroxidase-O2]-.     

Redox-dependent structural changes in an engineered heme-copper center in myoglobin: insights into chloride binding to CuB in heme copper oxidases

The effects of chloride on the redox properties of an engineered binuclear heme-copper center in myoglobin (Cu(B)Mb) were studied by UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry and EPR spectroscopy. A low-spin heme Fe(III)-Cu(I) intermediate was observed during the redox titration of Cu(B)Mb only in the presence of both Cu(II) and chloride. Upon the first electron transfer to the Cu(B) center, one of the His ligands of Cu(B) center dissociates and coordinates to the heme iron, forming a six-coordinate low-spin ferric heme center and a reduced Cu(B) center. The second electron transfer reduces the ferric heme and causes the release of the coordinated His ligand. Thus, the fully reduced state of the heme-copper center contains a five-coordinate ferrous heme and a reduced Cu(B) center, ready for O(2) binding and reduction to water to occur. In the absence of a chloride ion, formation of the low-spin heme species was not observed. These redox reactions are completely reversible. These results indicate that binding of chloride to the Cu(B) center can induce redox-dependent structural changes, and the bound chloride and hydroxide in the heme-copper center may play different roles in the redox-linked enzymatic reactions of heme-copper oxidases, probably because of their different binding affinity to the copper center and the relatively high concentration of chloride under physiological conditions.     

Magnetic circular dichroism studies on horseradish peroxidase.

Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra were observed for native (Fe(III)) horseradish peroxidase (peroxidase, EC 1.11.1.7), its alkaline form and fluoro- and cyano-derivatives, and also for reduced (Fe(II)) horseradish peroxidase and its carbonmonoxy-- and cyano- derivatives. MCD spectra were obtained for the cyano derivative of Fe(III) horseradish peroxidase, and reduced horseradish peroxidase and its carbonmonoxy- derivative nearly identical with those for the respective myoglobin derivatives. The alkaline form of horseradish peroxidase exhibits a completely different MCD spectrum from that of myoglobin hydroxide. Thus it shows an MCD spectrum which falls into the ferric low-spin heme grouping. Native horseradish peroxidase and its fluoro derivatives show almost identical MCD spectra with those for the respective myoglobin derivatives in the visible region, though some changes were detected in the Soret region. Therefore it is concluded that the MCD spectra on the whole are sensitive to the spin state of the heme iron rather than to the porphyrin structures. The cyanide derivative of reduced horseradish peroxidase exhibited a characteristic MCD spectrum of the low-spin ferrous derivative like oxy-myoglobin.     

The energy level scheme for the ferryl heme in compound II of the peroxidase-catalase family as determined from analysis of low-temperature magnetic circular dichroism

The expressions for temperature-dependent magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) of the ferryl heme (Fe(4+)Por, S=1), which is a model of an intermediate product of the catalytic cycle of heme enzymes (compound II), have been derived in the framework of a two-term model. Theoretical predictions for the temperature and magnetic field dependence of MCD intensity of the ferryl heme are compared with those of the high-spin and low-spin ferric heme. Analysis of reported MCD spectra of myoglobin peroxide [Foot et al., Biochem. J. 2651 (1989) 515-522] and compound II of horseradish peroxidase [Browett et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110 (1987) 3633-3640] has shown the presence in the samples of approximately 1% of a low-spin ferric component, which, however, should be taken into account in simulating observed temperature dependences of MCD intensity. The values of two adjustable parameters are estimated from the fit of the observed and simulated plots of MCD intensity against the reciprocal of the absolute temperature. One of them, the energy gap between the ground and excited terms, predetermines the axial zero-field splitting. The other parameter is correlated with the energy of splitting of excited quartets arising from either the porphyrin pi-->pi* transition or the spin-allowed charge-transfer transition.     

Effects of cyanogen bromide modification of the distal histidine on the spectroscopic and ligand binding properties of myoglobin: magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy as a probe of distal water ligation in ferric high-spin histidine-bound heme proteins

Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy has been utilized to characterize the change in coordination structure in native ferric sperm whale myoglobin upon cyanogen bromide-modification. Comparison of the MCD properties of the ferric high-spin state of cyanogen bromide-modified myoglobin (BrCN-Mb) with those of native ferric horseradish peroxidase and Aplysia myoglobin suggests that ferric BrCN-Mb is a potential MCD model for the pentacoordinate state of ferric high-spin histidine-ligated heme proteins. These five-coordinate heme proteins afford a relatively weak and unsymmetric signal in the Soret region of the MCD spectrum. In contrast, native ferric myoglobin and the benzohydroxamic acid adduct of ferric horseradish peroxidase show a strong and symmetric derivative-shaped Soret MCD signal which is indicative of hexacoordination with water and histidine axial ligands. Therefore it seems that MCD spectroscopy could be used to probe the presence of water ligated to the distal side of ferric high-spin heme proteins. The MCD spectra of the ferric-azide, ferrous-deoxy and ferrous-CO forms of BrCN-Mb have also been measured and compared to those of analogous native myoglobin complexes. The present MCD study has been extended to include new ligands, NO, thiocyanate and cyanate, which bind to ferric BrCN-Mb. With exogenous ligands such as CO, NO and thiocyanate, the coordination structures of the BrCN-Mb complexes are similar to those of the respective native myoglobin adducts. In the case of ferrous-deoxy and ferric-cyanate BrCN-Mb, however, the altered MCD spectra (and EPR for the latter) reveal changes in electronic structure which likely correlate with alterations of the coordination environment of these BrCN-Mb derivatives. Data are also presented which support the proposed tetrazole-bound structure for azide-treated BrCN-Mb (Hori, H., Fujii, M., Shiro, Y., Iizuka, T., Adachi, S. and Morishima, I. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 5715-5719) and the inability of the distal histidine of BrCN-Mb to stabilize the ferric ligand-bound state.