Effects of amino acids on gelation kinetics and solubility of sickle hemoglobin

Ten amino acids have been studied for their effects on the gelation of sickle hemoglobin using the recently developed assay of Hofrichter, Ross and Eaton. By monitoring kinetics and using high speed sedimentation, the rate and extent of gelation are directly measured. Of the amino acids tested, only phenylalanine significantly inhibited the gelation of sickle hemoglobin. The systematic study of the effects of additives, such as amino acids, on gelation serves as a basis for the study of potential non-covalent inhibitors of sickling.     

Heterogeneous Nucleation and Crowding in Sickle Hemoglobin: An Analytic Approach

Sickle hemoglobin nucleation occurs in solution as a homogeneous process or on existing polymers in a heterogeneous process. We have developed an analytic formulation to describe the solution crowding and large nonideality that affects the heterogeneous nucleation of sickle hemoglobin by using convex particle theory. The formulation successfully fits the concentration and temperature dependence of the heterogeneous nucleation process over 14 orders of magnitude. Unlike previous approaches, however, the new formulation can also accurately describe the effects of adding nonpolymerizing agents to the solution. Without additional adjustable parameters, the model now describes the data of M. Ivanova, R. Jasuja, S. Kwong, R. W. Briehl, and F. A. Ferrone, (Biophys. J. 2000, 79:1016-1022), in which up to 50% of the sickle hemoglobin is substituted by cross-linked hemoglobin A, which does not polymerize, and which substitution causes the rates to decrease by 10⁵. The success of this approach provides insight into the polymerization process: from the size-dependence of the contact energy deduced here, it also appears that various contacts of unknown origin are energetically significant in the heterogeneous nucleation process.     

Replication of ultraviolet-irradiated simian virus 40 in monkey kidney cells

This paper extends the concepts of linkage and control, previously studied in single phase allosteric and polysteric systems, to multiple phase (polyphasic) systems. In particular, a study has been made of the dependence of the solubility of sickle cell hemoglobin on oxygen partial pressure. Phase diagrams are obtained from observations of birefringence changes of hemoglobin solutions in a thin film optical cell. The effects of temperature and pH are found to be correlated largely with oxygen binding curves for non-gelling solutions. This suggests only small enthalpy and proton release changes for the gelation process. Variable time delays for the onset of birefringence were observed for partial deoxygenation of a fully oxygenated sample. The reciprocal of the time delay depends on a high power of the supersaturation ratio. The nucleation kinetics are, thereby, similar to those found in fully deoxygenated solutions in temperature-jump studies. Oxygen binding curves for non-gelling solutions of sickle cell hemoglobin were used in conjunction with the phase diagram results to evaluate oxygen binding curves for the polymer gel. Account was taken of the water content of the gel and of the large non-ideality of the solution. Analysis of the phase diagram data based on polyphasic linkage relationships suggests that some reversible oxygen-binding by the gel is present. The difference in oxygen binding between solution and gel obtained in this way is similar to that found by Hofrichter (1979) for carbon monoxide.     

Allosteric kinetics and equilibria differ for carbon monoxide and oxygen binding to hemoglobin.

We have measured the forward and reverse rates of the allosteric transition between R (relaxed) and T (tense) quaternary structures for oxyhemoglobin A from which a single oxygen molecule was removed in pH 7, phosphate buffer, using the method of modulated excitation (Ferrone, F.A., and J.J. Hopfield. 1976. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 73:4497-4501 and Ferrone, F.A., A.J. Martino, and S. Basak. 1985. Biophys. J. 48:269-282). Despite the low quantum yield, which necessitated large light levels and an associated temperature rise, the data was of superior quality to the equivalent experiment with CO as a ligand, permitting comparison between the allosteric behavior of hemoglobin with different ligands. Qualitatively, the T structure is favored more strongly in triligated oxyhemoglobin than triligated carboxyhemoglobin. The rates for the allosteric transition with oxygen bound were essentially temperature independent, whereas for CO both the R----T and T----R rates increased with temperature, having an activation energy of 2.2 and 2.8 kcal, respectively. The R----T rate was higher for O2 than for CO being 3 x 10(3) s-1 vs. 1.6 x 10(3) s-1 for HbCO at 25 degrees C. The T----R rate for HbO2 was only 2 x 10(3) s-1, vs 4.2 x 10(3) s-1 for HbCO, giving an equilibrium constant between the structures greater than unity (L3 = 1.5). The data suggest that there may be some allosteric inequality between the subunits, but do not require (or rule out) ligand binding heterogeneity. The ligand-dependent differences are compatible with stereochemical studies of HbCO and HbO2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Simultaneous measurement of electric birefringence and dichroism. A study on photosystem 1 particles.

We have developed a straightforward method to separate linear-dichroism and birefringence contributions to electric-field induced signals in a conventional birefringence setup. The method requires the measurement of electric birefringence for three different angular positions of the analyzer. It is demonstrated that the presence of linear dichroism can significantly influence the measured signals and lead to completely erroneous calculations of the birefringence signal and field-free decay times if its contribution is not taken into account. The new method is used to determine electric birefringence and linear dichroism of trimeric Photosystem 1 complexes from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 in the detergents n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside and n-octyl-beta-D-glucoside. It is concluded that the orientation of the particles in the field is predominantly caused by a permanent electric dipole moment that is directed parallel to the symmetry axis of the particles. Comparison of the decay times obtained with dodecylmaltoside and octylglucoside supports a model in which the thickness of the disc-like complexes remains similar (7-8 nm) upon replacing dodecylmaltoside by octylglucoside, whereas the diameter increases from 14.4 +/- 0.2 to 16.6 +/- 0.2 nm because of an increased thickness of the detergent layer. This change in diameter is in good agreement with electron-microscopy results on Photosystem 2 complexes in dodecylmaltoside and octylglucoside (Dekker, J. P., E. J. Boekema, H. T. Witt, and M. Rögner. 1988. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 936:307-318). The value of approximately 16.6 nm for the diameter of Photosystem 1 trimers in dodecylmaltoside is in good agreement with recent results obtained from electron microscopy in combination with extensive image analysis (Kruip, J., E. J. Boekema, D. Bald, A. F. Boonstra, and M. Rögner. 1993. J. Biol. Chem. 268:23353-23360).     

Saturation-transfer electron paramagnetic resonance detection of anisotropic motion by sickle hemoglobin molecules in the polymer state

The motional behavior of spin-labeled deoxygenated sickle hemoglobin has been studied by using both 9- and 35-GHz saturation-transfer electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Using spectral subtraction techniques and saturation-transfer EPR parameter correlation plots, we find that the saturation-transfer EPR spectra for the sickle hemoglobin gel state at high temperature and high hemoglobin concentration cannot be described as a simple superposition of spectra from immobilized hemoglobin plus solution-state hemoglobin but instead suggest that the individual sickle hemoglobin molecules exhibit limited, anisotropic, rotational oscillation within the polymer fiber. The spectra also imply that the symmetry axis for sickle hemoglobin rotational oscillation is approximately coincident with the nitroxide z axis of the covalently attached spin-label. We suggest that this anisotropic rotational motion may be produced by one or two of the known intermolecular contact sites within the sickle hemoglobin fiber acting as strong intermolecular binding sites, and producing "motional alignment" within the fiber; determining the location of the strong binding site should be important in focusing the future development of antisickling agents.     

Comparison of sickle cell hemoglobin gelation kinetics measured by NMR and optical methods.

We describe a technique for monitoring the kinetics of sickle cell hemoglobin gelation by observing the change in the amplitude and linewidth of the water proton magnetic resonance. The resulting kinetic progress curves are very similar to those obtained by optical birefringence and turbidity methods. The curves consist of a delay, followed by a rapidly accelerating signal change which terminates quickly. From a study of the temperature dependence of the delay time, it is shown that all three techniques see the onset of gelation simultaneously. The origin of the change in physical properties upon gelation is briefly discussed in relation to the component steps of the reaction.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of heme reorientational motions in myoglobin.

Molecular dynamics simulations of 2-ns duration were performed on carbonmonoxymyoglobin and deoxymyoglobin in vacuo to study the reorientational dynamics of the heme group. The heme in both simulations undergoes reorientations of approximately 5 degrees amplitude on a subpicosecond time scale, which produce a rapid initial decay in the reorientational correlation function to about 0.99. The heme also experiences infrequent changes in average orientation of approximately 10 degrees amplitude, which lead to a larger slow decay of the reorientational correlation function over a period of hundreds of picoseconds. The simulations have not converged with respect to these infrequent transitions. However, an estimate of the order parameter for rapid internal motions of the heme from those orientations which are sampled by the simulations suggests that the subnanosecond orientational dynamics of the heme accounts for at least 30% of the unresolved initial anisotropy decay observed in the nanosecond time-resolved optical absorption experiments on myoglobin reported by Ansari et al. in a companion paper (Ansari, A., C.M. Jones, E.R. Henry, J. Hofrichter, and W.A. Eaton. 1992. Biophys. J. 64:852-868.). A more complete sampling of the accessible heme orientations would most likely increase this fraction further. The simulation of the liganded molecule also suggests that the conformational dynamics of the CO ligand may contribute significantly to discrepancies between the ligand conformation as probed by x-ray diffraction and by infrared-optical photoselection experiments. The protein back-bone explores multiple conformations during the simulations, with the largest structural changes appearing in the E and F helices, which are in contact with the heme. The variations in the heme orientation correlate with the conformational dynamics of the protein on a time scale of hundreds of picoseconds, suggesting that the heme orientation may provide a useful probe of dynamical processes in the protein.     

The amino acid sequences of chains a, b, and c that form the trimer subunit of the extracellular hemoglobin from Lumbricus terrestris

The extracellular hemoglobin of Lumbricus terrestris comprises four major heme-containing chains, a, b, c, and d in equal proportions. We have determined the amino acid sequences of chains a, b, and c which form a disulfide-linked trimer. Chains a, b, and c have 151, 145, and 153 residues and calculated molecular weights of 17,525, 16,254, and 17,289, respectively. The sequence of chain b, reported previously (Garlick, R. L., and Riggs, A. F. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 287, 9005-9015) has been completely redetermined and found to contain 12 fewer residues than originally reported. Chains a and c both contain unusual, highly polar NH2-terminal extensions of 7 residues before the A helix. These segments must be close together because they are joined by a disulfide bond. We suggest that this structure, with seven negatively charged groups, may be part of a functionally important Ca2+-binding site in the trimer. Comparison of the sequences of chains a, b, and c with those of chain d (Shishikura, F., Snow, J. W., Gotoh, T., Vinogradov, S. N., and Walz, D. A. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 3123-3131) and the four chains of the hemoglobin of Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus (Suzuki, T., and Gotoh, T. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 9257-9267) shows that the number and positions of the cysteinyl residues are all conserved. This suggests that the extracellular hemoglobins from both the Oligochaeta and Polychaeta have the same number and configuration of disulfide bonds within the molecule. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that gene duplication first generated an intracellular hemoglobin branch and an extracellular hemoglobin branch. DNA coding for a signal peptide would have been acquired by the extracellular globin gene after this event. At least two further gene duplications are required to account for the present four polypeptide chains.     

Aggregation of a slow-folding mutant of a beta-clam protein proceeds through a monomeric nucleus

Mechanistic understanding of protein aggregation, leading either to structured amyloid fibrils or to amorphous inclusion body-like deposits, should facilitate the identification of potential therapeutic intervention strategies for the devastating amyloid-based diseases. Here we focus on the in vitro aggregation of a slow-folding mutant of the beta-clam protein, cellular retinoic acid-binding protein I (P39A CRABP I), which forms inclusion bodies when expressed in Escherichia coli. Aggregation was monitored by observing the fluorescence of a fluorescein-based biarsenical dye (FlAsH) that ligates to a tetra-Cys motif, here incorporated into a flexible Omega-loop. The fluorescence signal of FlAsH on the tetra-Cys-containing P39A CRABP I is sensitive to whether this protein is native or unfolded, and was used in combination with other techniques to follow aggregate formation. The aggregation time course is compatible with a nucleation-dependent polymerization model, and detailed kinetic analysis showed that the energetically unfavorable nucleus is monomeric. A similar conclusion was reached previously for poly(Gln) species [Chen, S., Ferrone, F. A., and Wetzel, R. (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 11884-11889] and points to an unfavorable equilibrium between the misfolded intermediate and the bulk pool of monomers as causative in aggregation. The P39A mutation, which removes a helix-stop signal, may slow closure of the beta-barrel in P39A CRABP I relative to the wild type, leaving it vulnerable to aggregation. Wide-angle X-ray scattering showed that the amorphous aggregates formed by the aggregation-prone intermediates of P39A CRABP I contain predominantly beta-strands structured in a lamellar fashion with 10.03 A spacing between adjacent beta-sheets.     

Kinetics of actin elongation and depolymerization at the pointed end

We measured the rate of elongation at the pointed filament end with increasing concentrations of G-actin [J(c) function] using villin-capped actin filaments of very small (actin/villin = 3, VA3) and relatively large size (actin/villin = 18, VA18) as nuclei for elongation. The measurements were made under physiological conditions in the presence of both Mg2+ and K+. In both cases the J(c) function was nonlinear. In contrast to the barbed filament end, however, the slope of the J(c) function sharply decreased rather than increased when the monomer concentration was lowered to concentrations near and below the critical concentration c infinity. At zero monomer concentration, depolymerization at the pointed end was very slow with a rate constant of 0.02 s-1 for VA18. When VA3 was used, the nonlinearity of the J(c) function was greatly exaggerated, and the nuclei elongated at actin concentrations below the independently measured critical concentration for the pointed end. This is consistent with and confirms our previous finding [Weber, A., Northrop, J., Bishop, M. F., Ferrone, F. A., & Mooseker, M. S. (1987) Biochemistry (preceding paper in the issue)] that at an actin-villin ratio of 3 a significant fraction of the villin is free and that a series of steady states exist between villin-actin complexes of increasing size and G-actin. The rate constant of elongation seems to increase with increasing G-actin concentrations because of increasing conversion of free villin into villin-actin oligomers during the period of the measurement of the initial elongation rate. The villin-actin oligomers have a much higher rate constant of actin binding than does free villin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Polymerization in erythrocytes containing S and non-S hemoglobins

We analyzed the effects of protein and water nonideality and of erythrocyte heterogeneity on the polymerization of hemoglobin S in cells where there were significant amounts of non-S hemoglobins, sickle trait (AS), and SC disease. For AS erythrocytes, the calculated predicted results were in good agreement with measured polymer formation as previously reported (Noguchi C.T., D.A. Torchia, and A.N. Schnechter, 1981, J. Biol. Chem. 256:4168-4171). Throughout much of the physiologically relevant oxygen saturation region, polymer was not formed in AS erythrocytes. Measurements of polymer formation in SC erythrocytes as a function of oxygen saturation using 13C NMR are reported here and also are in good agreement with the calculated predicted results. As in sickle (SS) erythrocytes, polymer can be detected in SC erythrocytes in the region above 60% oxygen saturation. The increased polymer formation in SC erythrocytes as compared with AS erythrocytes can be explained in terms of hemoglobin composition and concentration in SC erythrocytes, with the concomitant increase in the proportion of dense cells. These findings provide a basis for understanding the pathophysiology of sickle cell and of SC disease, in contrast to benign sickle trait, in terms of intracellular polymer formation.     

Oxygen equilibrium of emulsified solutions of normal and sickle hemoglobin.

Emulsions containing microdroplets of concentrated solutions of normal or sickle hemoglobin dispersed in a continous oil phase have been prepared, and the aggregation of sickle hemoglobin within microdroplets in a deoxygenated emulsion demonstrated. The equilibrium oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in the emulsions has been measured as a function of the partial pressure of oxygen by a novel spectrophotometric technique which corrects for the scattering of light in the emulsion. The half-saturation oxygen pressure and cooperativity of oxygen binding are substantially greater in concentrated (27 g/dl) solutions of sickle hemoglobin than in solutions of non-aggregating hemoglobin. The shape of the oxygen equilibrium curve of concentrated sickle hemoglobin is qualitatively discussed in terms of a previously proposed model (1).     

Electron paramagnetic resonance of Hb St Louis beta28 (B10) Leu replaced by Gln.

Hemoglobin St Louis beta28 (B10) Leu replaced by Gln is a new mutant which occurs as a natural valency hybrid (alpha2beta+2), or hemoglobin M (Cohen-Solal, M., Seligmann, M., Thillet, J. and Rosa, J. (1973) FEBS Lett. 33, 37-41). The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum of native Hb St Louis at pH 6.2 shows a mixture of three species. Two are high spin, one with tetragonal symmetry, like Hb+ A, the other with rhombic distortion. The third is a low-spin form corresponding to a hemichrome with the distal (E7) histidine as the sixth ligand of the ferric iron. The hemichrome is also found in red blood cells. After oxidation to the alpha+2beta+2 form, three EPR species are seen. Surprisingly, there remains only one high-spin signal, with almost tetragonal symmetry. Besides the low-spin hemichrome, a hydroxy signal is observed even at pH 6.2. These observations imply interactions between the alpha and beta hemes.     

Binding of a spin-labeled phenylalanine analog to sickle hemoglobin: EPR and NMR studies

We have synthesized a spin-label analog of phenylalanine as a competitive inhibitor probe of the sickle hemoglobin aggregation process. Sickle hemoglobin gelation measurements indicate that the spin-label phenylalanine analog is a potent inhibitor of deoxy sickle hemoglobin aggregation. We have also used spin label EPR and high-resolution proton NMR to study the interaction of the phenylalanine analog with hemoglobin, and find that the kinetic off-rate is comparable to, or slower than the hemoglobin rotational rate (i.e., greater than or equal to 10(8) s-1), and that at least one, and perhaps two significant localized interaction region(s) exist within a few angstroms of the beta chain N- and C-termini. Correlation with other known structural information suggests that the observed interaction sites may be relevant to the mechanism for inhibition of sickle hemoglobin aggregation.     

Single cell laser light scattering spectroscopy in a flow cell: Repeated sickling of sickle red blood cells

We performed dynamic laser light scattering measurements of hemoglobin aggregates in single, sickle erythrocytes. Sickle erythrocytes were attached to the poly-(l-lysine)-coated surface of a flow cell. They were exposed to several oxygenation-deoxygenation cycles by repeatedly changing the flowing solution. The rate of cycling was found to be a determining factor for the formation of irreversible morphologic alterations as well as irreversible hemoglobin aggregates. In slow cycling, the sickle erythrocytes took an irreversible, irregular, rounded shape, and hemoglobin aggregates were observed even in the oxygenated state after 20 cycles. In the fast cycling, however, these changes did not take place even after 60 cycles.     

Depolarization spectrum of diffracted light from muscle fiber. The intrinsic anisotropy component.

The depolarization signal of the diffraction patterns from muscle fibers includes information that differs from that of transmission birefringence experiments. Although both the birefringence studies and the phase shift studies of Yeh et al. (Yeh, Y, and G. Pinsky, 1983, Biophys. J., 42:83-90; Yeh, Y., M. E. Corcoran, R. J. Baskin, and R. L. Lieber, 1983, Biophys. J., 44:343-351) include inseparable intrinsic and form contributions, the present analysis shows that the magnitude of the E-field components of diffracted light is affected only by the intrinsic contribution. We have analyzed the amplitude portion of the data of which the phase shift portion had previously been reported (Yeh, Y., M. E. Corcoran, R. J. Baskin, and R. L. Lieber, 1983, Biophys. J., 44:343-351). For the relaxed-to-rigor transition, these field amplitudes also exhibit changes when ATP concentration is decreased. The observed decrease in optical depolarization upon rigor is consistent with the idea that optically anisotropic elements move away from the myosin thick filament under such conditions.