The effect of tris(2-chloroethyl)amine on human hemoglobin.

The reaction of tris(2-chloroethyl)amine (TCEA) with purified hemoglobin and its effect on properties of hemoglobin was studied using 14C-labeled TCEA. Hemoglobin remained soluble after binding as much as 4 TCEA per heme. In concentrations which did not denature hemoglobin TCEA reacted only with a small proportion of the free SH groups; blockade of the SH groups with PMB did not noticeably affect the binding of TCEA to hemoglobin. Hydrolysis by trypsin or chymotrypsin of hemoglobin which had reacted with TCEA yielded radioactive peptides besides not radioactive peptides and radioactive compounds not reacting with ninhydrin. The reaction with TCEA caused a change in electrophoretic mobility of hemoglobin and prevented its complete disintegration by PMB into subunits. After reaction with TCEA the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen was strongly increased and the heme-heme interaction strongly diminished. The Bohr effect and the effect of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate on oxygen affinity remained unchanged. The effect of TCEA on the properties of hemoglobin points to specificity in its reaction with functional groups of hemoglobin.