Robert Cashon

Redox Reactivity of Modified Hemoglobins with Hydrogen Peroxide and Nitric Oxide: Toxicological Implications

The rapid unloading of oxygen to tissue and the prevention of subunit dissociation have been the main concerns in the search for an effective hemoglobin-based red cell substitute. The presence of redox active iron however, raises some questions about its potential to enter into reactions that mediate the formation of cytotoxic oxygen free radicals. We tested the propensity of modified hemoglobins to undergo oxidative damage by peroxide (H2O2). We found differences in their susceptibility to oxidative modification and in their ability to form the highly cytotoxic ferryl species. This protein-associated oxidant may be a physiologically important contributor to reperfusion injury. Another potential mechanism of toxicity involves the reaction of cell-free hemoglobin with endothelium derived nitric oxide (NO). Marked hypertensive responses in intact animals infused with some of these hemoglobins were reported. Cell-free hemoglobin has the potential to bind the endothelial generated NO yielding methemoglobin and nitrate, an extremely rapid reaction in vivo. We describe subsequent redox reactions between NO and methemoglobin which may further deplete NO as a biological transducer, leading to greater effects on the extent of endothelial-dependent responses. The consequences of a potential linkage between oxidative toxicity of cell-free hemoglobin and its interaction with NO is addressed.

Crustaceans as models for metal metabolism: III. Interaction of lobster and mammalian metallothionein with glutathione☆

Abstract In the blue crab Callinectes sapidus , a direct correlation exists between the levels of Cu(I)-metallothionein (CuMT) and Cu(I)-hemocyanin during the molt cycle. However, CuMT cannot directly restore the oxygen-binding capacity of copperless hemocyanin. Here we report the discovery of an intracellular ligand that may facilitate the transfer of Cu(I) from CuMT to the active site of apohemocyanin. The tripeptide glutathione (γ-Glu-Cys-Gly, GSH) in the digestive gland of the American lobster, Homarus americanus , co-elutes with copper-metallothionein during size-exclusion chromatography. The latter protein can be separated into three isoforms by anion-exchange chromatography: CuMT-I, CuMT-II, and CuMT-III, as has been found for the CuMTs from the blue crab. The interaction between GSH and MT isoforms was examined by ultrafiltration experiments and size-exclusion HPLC. CuMT-III forms a stable 1:1 complex with GSH, with a dissociation constant of 1 μm. CuMT-I and II make a transient complex with GSH, with subsequent release of copper as a copper-glutathione [Cu(I)-(GSH) 2 ] complex. This complex can restore oxygen binding by apohemocyanin. GSH also forms a complex with cadmium-zinc MT from rabbit liver and can repair the oxidized form of this protein. The binding site for GSH on the mammalian MT has been tentatively identified by molecular-graphics analysis and energy-minimization calculations. These studies suggest that MT and GSH are intricately linked in the biochemistry of metal regulation.

Hemoglobin Rahere, a human hemoglobin variant with amino acid substitution at the 2,3-diphosphoglycerate binding site. Functional consequences of the alteration and effects of bezafibrate on the oxygen bindings.

We encountered an abnormal hemoglobin (Rahere), with a threonine residue replacing the beta 82 (EF6) lysine residue at the binding site of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, which was responsible for overt erythrocytosis in two individuals of a Japanese family. Hemoglobin Rahere shows a lower oxygen affinity on the binding of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate or chloride ions than hemoglobin A. Although a decrease in the positive charge density at the binding sites of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate in hemoglobin Rahere apparently shifts the allosteric equilibrium toward the low affinity state, it greatly diminishes the cofactor effects by anions. The oxygen affinity of the patients erythrocytes is substantially lowered by the presence of bezafibrate, which combines with sites different from those of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate in either hemoglobin Rahere or hemoglobin A.

FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE HEMOGLOBIN FROM THE SOUTH AMERICAN SNAKE MASTIGODRYAS BIFOSSATUS

The hemolysate of Mastigodryas bifossatus shows two major hemoglobins with very close isoelectric points, and four different globin chains. The stripped hemolysate exhibits a low alkaline Bohr effect (delta log P50/delta pH = -0.30 between pH 7 and 8) and a decrease of the co-operativity from 2.3 to unity when the pH increases from 6.15 to 8.5. In the presence of ATP, large changes in the oxygen affinity and co-operativity are observed. The Bohr effect rises to -0.46 and the n50 values stay at around 3 in the pH range 6-9. An increase in temperature induces a large decrease in the oxygen affinity for the stripped hemolysate. In the pH range between 7.5 and 8.5, the values of delta H in kcal/M are around 10 fold larger for the stripped protein than for the protein in the presence of ATP. Measurements of rapid kinetics of oxygen dissociation and carbon monoxide binding reflect the ATP sensitivity observed in equilibrium experiments.

Carbodiimide-Mediated Coupling of Benzenepentacarboxylate to Human Hemoglobin: Structural and Functional Consequences

We have examined the covalent modification of HbA with BPC (benzenepentacarboxylate) whose carboxyl groups were activated with EDC [1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl- aminopropyl)-carbodiimide]. Reaction of deoxy-HbA at pH 8 with a 10-fold excess of BPC, preactivated with a 2-fold excess of EDC for 5 minutes, followed by anion-exchange chromatography, gives three components with p50 values of 1.15 (unreacted HbA), 11.7 and 7.6 mm of Hg at 20 degrees C (50 mM Bis-Tris pH 7.0). Component III does not dissociate into dimers upon dilution, but components I and II do. When deoxy-HbA is reacted at pH 6 with 10-fold BPC, preactivated with two-fold EDC for 5 minutes, the resultant HbA derivatives can be separated into three components, with p50 values at pH 7 of 14.2, 10.2 and 5.2 mm of Hg, respectively. All three components are stable tetramers. Oxygen binding by all of the covalent HbA-(BPC)x complexes is cooperative, pH sensitive, but IHP insensitive. The latter observation suggest that BPC is covalently bound to HbAs DPG/IHP binding site. This conclusion is corroborated by reversed phase HPLC analysis which shows that all five modified HbAs contain at least one modified beta chain. In addition, 4 of the 5 derivatives also contain modified alpha chains. No inter or intratetramer crosslinks are observed.

Glycosylated hemoglobin levels in a benign form of sickle cell anemia in Saudi Arabia.

Glycosylated hemoglobin was determined by the thiobarbituric acid method in sickle cell anemia patients from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The level of glycosylated hemoglobin in a Saudi SS sample (4.36%, SD 0.83) is 90% of that of the sample of normals (4.85%, SD 0.51). This is in contrast with the reported value of glycosylated hemoglobin in an American Black SS sample (3.9%, SD 0.6), which is only 60% of that of the sample of normals (6.6%, SD 0.7). The fetal hemoglobin level in Saudi sickle cell patients was 12.03% (SD 4.84), which is significantly different from that of Americans of African origin at p = 0.001. There was no significant correlation (r = 0.236) between the percentages of glycosylated Hb and Hb F at the 10% confidence level. The reported positive relationship between the percentages of glycosylated Hb and Hb F in American Blacks seems to be valid in the Saudi population only up to the level of 10-12% of fetal hemoglobin. Above this threshold of Hb F no further alleviating effect is seen. The 2,3-diphosphoglycerate value in Saudi Hb SS adults was 21.7 mumol/g (SD 7.4) and accordingly only twice as high as that of normal individuals. The benign clinical course exhibited by Saudi sickle cell patients is reflected by the survival of the RBC as indexed by its content of glycosylated Hb and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate. Moreover 10-12% of fetal hemoglobin in the RBC seems sufficient to ameliorate the severity of this disease in patients from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.