Abstract
THE structural end-points of haemoglobin's transition from its low-oxygen-affinity (T) to high-oxygen-affinity (R) state, have been well established by X-ray crystallography1á€-7, but short-lived intermediates have proved less amenable to X-ray studies. Here we use chemical crosslinking to fix these intermediates for structural characterization. We describe the X-ray structures of three haemoglobins, α2β1S82β, α2β1Tm82β and α2β1,82Tm82β, which were crosslinked between the amino groups of residues βVal1 and βLys82 by 3,3′-stilbenedicarboxylic acid (S) or trimesic acid (Tm) while in the deoxy state, and saturated with carbon monoxide before crystallization. α2β1S82β, which has almost normal oxygen affinity, is completely in the R-state conformation; however, α2β1Tm82β and α2β1,82Tm82β, both of which have low oxygen affinity, have been prevented from completing their transition into the R state and display many features of a transitional intermediate. These haemoglobins therefore represent a snapshot of the nascent R state.
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Schumacher, M., Dixon, M., Kluger, R. et al. Allosteric transition intermediates modelled by crosslinked haemoglobins. Nature 375, 84–87 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/375084a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/375084a0
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