Studies of high spin ferrous and ferric derivatives led us to conclude that in the quaternary R structure the state of the hemes is similar to that in the free alpha and beta subunits, but in the T structure a tension acts on the hemes which tries to pull the iron and the proximal histidine further from the plane of the porphyrin. We have now studied the effect of inositol hexaphosphate (IHP) on the three low spin ferrous compounds of hemoglobin with O2, CO, and NO. IHP failed to switch the quaternary structure of carbonmonoxy- and oxyhemoglobin A to the T state, but merely caused a transition to an as yet undefined modification of the R structure. IHP is known to cause a switch to the T structure in hemoglobin Kansas. We have found that this switch induces red shifts of the visible alpha and beta absorption bands and the appearance of a shoulder on the red side of the alpha band; these changes are very weak in carbonmonoxy- and slightly stronger in oxyhemoglobin Kansas. As already noted by previous authors, addition of IHP to nitrosylhemoglobin A induces all the changes in uv absorption and CD spectra, sulfhydryl reactivities, and exchangeable proton resonances normally associated with the R leads to T transition, and is accompanied by large changes in the Soret and visible absorption bands. Experiments with nitrosyl hybrids show that these changes in absorption are caused predominantly by the hemes in the alpha subunits. In the accompanying paper Maxwell and Caughey (J. C. Maxwell and W. S. Caughey (1976), Biochemistry, following paper in this issue) report that the NO in nitrosylhemoglobin without IHP gives a single ir stretching frequency characteristic for six-coordinated nitrosyl hemes; addition of IHP causes the appearance of a second ir band, of intensity equal to that of the first, which is characteristic for five-coordinated nitrosyl hemes. Taken together, these results show that the R leads to T transition causes either a rupture or at least a very dramatic stretching of the bond from the iron to the heme-linked histidine, such that an equilibrium is set up between five- and six-coordinated hemes, biased toward five-coordinated hemes in the alpha and six-coordinated ones in the beta subunits. The reason why IHP can switch nitrosyl-, but not carbonmonoxy- or oxyhemoglobin A, from the R to the T structure is to be found in the weakening of the iron-histidine bond by the unpaired NO electron and by the very short Fe-NO bond length.

Resonance Raman spectra have been obtained for Hb M Boston [His-E7(58) alpha leads to Tyr], Hb M Iwate [His-F8-(87) alpha leads to Tyr], and Hb M Milwaukee [Val-E11(67) beta leads to Glu]. The abnormal alpha subunits of Hb M Boston and Hb M Iwate exhibited the porphyrin nu10 band at 1628 and 1627 cm-1, respectively, which indicates that the ferric alpha hemes are five-coordinated in both Hb M Boston and Hb M Iwate. In addition to the porphyrin bands, four extra polarized lines were observed at 1607, 1506, 1278, and 603 cm-1 for the alpha abnormal subunit of Hb M Boston and at 1605, 1506, 1310, and 589 cm-1 for that of Hb M Iwate. By comparison with the vibrational spectra of Fe-tyrosine proteins and Fe-phenolate complexes, the 1605-1607- and 1506-cm-1 lines are assigned to the phenolate ring vibrations of the heme-coordinated tyrosine, and the 1278-cm-1 line of Hb M Boston and the 1310-cm-1 line of Hb M Iwate are assigned to the phenolate CO stretching mode. We propose that the 603-cm-1 line of Hb M Boston and the 589-cm-1 line of Hb M Iwate arise from the Fe-O(tyrosine) stretching mode. These four Raman lines are intensity enhanced upon the excitation around 475-520 nm, probably due to the presence of a charge-transfer interaction between Fe and Tyr. The dissimilarity of the Fe-O and phenolate CO stretching frequencies between Hb M Boston and Hb M Iwate, despite the similarity of frequencies of their porphyrin and phenolate ring modes, suggests that the heme-phenolate bonding angles differ between Hb M Boston and Hb M Iwate although both adopt the five-coordinate form with Tyr as the only axial ligand. The resonance Raman spectra of oxy- and deoxy-Hb M Milwaukee showed no anomaly and can be accounted for by those of the equimolar mixtures of aquomet- and oxy- or deoxy-Hb A.

The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse spontaneously develops lymphocytic infiltrates in the salivary glands (sialadenitis) and provides an useful rodent model of human Sjogren's syndrome (SS). Non-depleting anti-CD4 antibodies have been shown to ameliorate Type 1 diabetes in NOD mice and also vasculitis in MRL/lpr mice. This study shows that a short course of treatment with the non-depleting anti-CD4 monoclonal antibody, YTS 177, completely prevents salivary infiltration and reverses ongoing pathology in the salivary gland.