Release of hemoglobin into plasma is a physiological phenomenon associated with intravascular hemolysis. In plasma, stable haptoglobin‐hemoglobin complexes are formed and these are subsequently delivered to the reticulo‐endothelial system by CD163 receptor‐mediated endocytosis. Heme arising from the degradation of hemoglobin, myoglobin, and of enzymes with heme prosthetic groups could be delivered in plasma. Albumin, haptoglobin, hemopexin, and high and low density lipoproteins cooperate to trap the plasma heme, thereby ensuring its complete clearance. Then hemopexin releases the heme into hepatic parenchymal cells only after internalization of the hemopexin‐heme complex by CD91 receptor‐mediated endocytosis. Moreover, α1‐microglobulin contributes to heme degradation by a still unknown mechanism, with the concomitant formation of heterogeneous yellow‐brown kynurenine‐derived chromophores which are very tightly bound to amino acid residues close to the rim of the lipocalin pocket. During hemoglobin synthesis, the erythroid α‐chain hemoglobin‐stabilizing protein specifically binds free α‐hemoglobin subunits limiting the free protein toxicity. Although highly toxic because capable of catalyzing free radical formation, heme is also a major and readily available source of iron for pathogenic organisms. Gram‐negative bacteria pick up the heme‐bound iron through the secretion of a hemophore that takes up either free heme or heme bound to heme‐proteins and transports it to a specific receptor, which, in turn, releases the heme and hence iron into the bacterium. Here, hemoglobin and heme trapping mechanisms are summarized. IUBMB Life, 57: 749‐759, 2005

Titrations of B(C6F5)3 (1) with water, in toluene-d 8 solution, monitored by 19F and 1H NMR at 196 K, showed first the formation of the adduct [(C6F5)3B(OH2)] (2) and then its stepwise transformation into the two aqua species [(C6F5)3B(OH2)]·H2O (3) and [(C6F5)3B(OH2)]·2H2O (4) containing, respectively, one or two water molecules hydrogen-bonded to the protons of the B-bound water molecule. The NMR data show that in each titration step only two species were present in significant concentration:  1 and 2 up to 1 equiv, 2 and 3 between 1 and 2 equiv, 3 and 4 between 2 and 3 equiv. Above 3 equiv the solutions rapidly attained saturation and phase separation occurred (although there was evidence of interaction of 4 with more water molecules). Titrations at room temperature indicated an analogous stepwise course. Variable-temperature experiments demonstrated water exchange between the different aqua species and between the different water sites in the adducts 3 and 4 (“internal” or B-bound and “external” or H-bound). The rate of these processes increased with the amount of water bonded to B(C6F5)3. The exchange of B-bound water among the different B(C6F5)3 molecules (resulting in the 1 ⇔ 2 interconversion) caused the averaging of the 19F resonances of 1 and 2, above 273 K. Band shape analysis in the temperature range 235−312 K provided the kinetic constants, whose dependence on the concentration revealed a dissociative mechanism (ΔH ⧧ 67(2) kJ mol-1, ΔS ⧧ 58(7) J mol-1 K-1). For the adduct [(C6F5)3B(OH2)]·H2O (3), four different dynamic processes have been recognized:  (i) the exchange of H-bound water among different [(C6F5)3B(OH2)] adducts (the 2 ⇔ 3 exchange) or (ii) among different [(C6F5)3B(OH2)].H2O adducts (the 3 ⇔ 4 exchange), (iii) the exchange between H-bound and B-bound water, (iv) the hopping of H-bound water between the two protons of B-bound water. This process was so fast that an averaged signal for the protons of internal water was observed even at 187 K. The rate of the process (i) increased with the concentration of 2, so that separate 19F and 1H signals for 2 and 3 were observed only in very dilute solutions at the lowest temperatures. Linear plots of the kinetic constants (estimated from 1H NMR spectra in the near fast exchange region, temperature range 188−214 K) vs the concentration of 2 allowed the estimation of the constant for the dissociative pathway (4 orders of magnitude faster than for the exchange of B-bound water) and for the bimolecular pathway [ΔH ⧧ 30(2) kJ mol-1, ΔS ⧧ 3(10) J mol-1 K-1]. Process (ii) was too fast on the NMR time scale to allow any kinetic investigation. Process (iii) caused the parallel broadening of both the 1H signals of 3 at T > 225 K, with a rate quite close to that of the dissociative exchange of water among different B(C6F5)3 molecules. The activation parameters (ΔH ⧧ 55(2) kJ mol-1, ΔS ⧧ 7(3) J mol-1 K-1, temperature range 233−273 K) allowed no discrimination between the exchange of an entire water molecule and the mere exchange of protons. Even small amounts...

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations starting from crystallographic data allowed us to directly account for the effects of the protonation state of Glu89 on the conformational stability of apo- and holo-beta-lactoglobulin (BLG). In apo-BLG simulations starting from the protonated crystal structure, we observe a long-lived H-bond interaction between the protonated Glu89 and Ser116. This interaction, sequestering the proton from the aqueous medium, explains a pK(half) value evaluated at pH 7.3 by continuum electrostatics/Monte Carlo computation on MD data, using linear response approximation. A very large root-mean-square deviation (RMSD; 5.11 A) is observed for the EF loop between protonated and unprotonated apo-BLG. This results from a quite different orientation of the EF loop that acts either as a closed or as an open lid above the protein calyx. Proton exchange by Glu89 in apo- but not in holo-BLG is associated with a reorganization energy of 4.7 kcal/mol. A 3-ns MD simulation starting from the crystal structure of protonated apo-BLG, but considering the Glu89 as unprotonated, shows the progressive opening of the lid giving rise to the Tanford transition. In both holo-BLG forms, the lid is most probably held in place by hydrophobic interactions of amino acid side-chains of the EF loop with the palmitate hydrocarbon tail.

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The reactivity of a series of para-substituted phenolic compounds in the peroxidation catalyzed by chloroperoxidase was investigated, and the results were interpreted on the basis of the binding characteristics of the substrates to the active site of the enzyme. Marked selectivity effects are observed. These operate through charge, preventing phenolic compounds carrying amino groups on the substituent chain to act as substrates for the enzyme, and through size, excluding potential substrates containing bulky substituents to the phenol nucleus. Also, chiral recognition is exhibited by chloroperoxidase in the oxidation of N-acetyltyrosine, where only the L isomer is oxidized. Kinetic measurements show that, in general, the efficiency of chloroperoxidase in the oxidation of phenols is lower than that of horseradish peroxidase. Paramagnetic NMR spectra and relaxation rate measurements of chloroperoxidase-phenol complexes are consistent with binding of the substrates close to the heme, in the distal pocket, with the phenol group pointing toward the iron atom. On the other hand, phenolic compounds which are not substrates for chloroperoxidase bind to the enzyme with a much different disposition, with the phenol group very distant from the iron and probably actually outside the active-site cavity.