Carbamoylated hemoglobins A and S: physical properties.

Dimer-tetramer association constants (K2,4) of derivatives of CO-hemoglobins A and S specifically carbamoylated at the NH2-terminal valine residues were measured. Reactivites of the beta-93 sulfhydryls of the hemoglobin A derivatives were also investigated. As compared with the association constants of the parent molecules, the values of K2,4 of both hemoglobin types are raised by carbamoylation of the alpha-chain NH2 terminus, lowered by carbamoylation of the beta-chain NH2 terminus, and raised by carbamoylation of both termini. The apparent second-order rate constant for reaction of p-mercuribenzoate (PMB) with the beta-93 sulfhydryls is, however, unchanged by carbamoylation. These two observations are interpreted to indicate that in the liganded molecule structural changes are produced at the interface between dimers but not in the region of the beta-93 sulfhydryls. From the combination of the K2,4 measurements with ligand-binding data for the same derivatives (Kilmartin, J. V., et al. (1973), J. Biol. Chem. 248, 4039; Nigen, A. M., et al. (1974), J. Biol. Chem. 249, 6611) the carbamoylation-induced changes in the dimer-tetramer association constants of the unliganded derivatives were estimated to be of magnitude equal to or smaller than those in K2,4. It is concluded that much of the change in oxygen affinity that occurs upon carbamoylation of hemoglobins A and S can be accounted for without invoking extensive structural changes in the unliganded molecule.