Equilibrium and kinetic measurements of carbon monoxide binding to hemoglobin kansas in the presence of inositol hexaphosphate

Previous proton nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) studies have indicated that inositol hexaphosphate (IHP) can stabilize hemoglobin (Hb) Kansas in a deoxy-like quaternary structure even when fully liganded with carbon monoxide (CO) (S. Ogawa, A. Mayer, and R. G. Shulman, 1972, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 49, 1485–1491). In the present report we have investigated both CO binding at equilibrium and the CO binding and release kinetics to determine if Hb Kansas + IHP is devoid of cooperativity, as would be suggested by the nmr studies just quoted. The equilibrium measurements show that Hb Kansas + IHP has a very low affinity for CO ($\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{= 1.2}\text{mm}$ Hg and K_eq = 5.4 × 10⁵M^?1) and almost no cooperativity (n = 1.1) at pH 7, 25 °C. The CO “on” and “off” kinetics also show no evidence for cooperativity. In addition, the equilibrium constant estimated from the kinetic rate constants (K_eq = 5.2 × 10⁵M^?1 with k_on = 1.03 × 10⁵M^?1 · S^? and k_off = 0.198 S^?1) is in excellent agreement with the equilibrium constant determined directly. Thus, both kinetic and equilibrium measurements allow us to conclude that CO binding to Hb Kansas + IHP occurs without significant cooperativity.