THE APOLAR DISTAL HISTIDINE MUTANT (HIS69-]VAL) OF THE HOMODIMERIC SCAPHARCA HEMOGLOBIN IS IN AN R-LIKE CONFORMATION

The effect of the apolar mutation of the distal histidine (His69-->Val ) has been studied in the cooperative homodimeric hemoglobin from the mollusc Scapharca inaequivalvis, Absorption, circular dichroism, and r esonance Raman spectroscopy point to a more symmetric heme structure o f the deoxy derivative, which is indicative of an R-like conformation of the deoxy heme. Resonance Raman spectroscopy also brings out altera tions in the geometry and interactions of the bound CO molecule. The i ron-carbon stretching frequency is decreased by about 30 cm(-1) with r espect to the native protein, while the diatomic ligand stretching fre quency is increased by about the same degree, Consistent with the stru ctural changes, the ligand binding properties are significantly altere d, In the mutant the overall rate and the affinity for CO binding are increased about 100-fold with respect to the native protein, and coope rativity is abolished. Ln addition, the amplitude and the rate of the geminate rebinding process increase significantly. This finding may be correlated to the longer average residence time of the photolyzed CO molecule within the heme pocket of the H69V mutant, as indicated by mo lecular dynamics simulations.