Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Protein Sci. 2010 Aug;19(8):1595-9. doi: 10.1002/pro.441.
Different types of human hemoglobins (Hbs) consisting of various combinations of the embryonic, fetal, and adult Hb subunits are present at certain times during development representing a major paradigm of developmental biology that is still not understood and one which we address here. We show that the subunit interfaces of these Hbs have increasing bonding strengths as demonstrated by their distinct distribution of tetramers, dimers, and monomers during gel filtration at very low-Hb concentration. This maturation is mediated by competition between subunits for more favorable partners with stronger subunit interactions. Thus, the protein products of gene expression can themselves have a role in the developmental process due to their intrinsic properties.
在发育过程的特定时期，不同类型的人类血红蛋白（Hb）由胚胎、胎儿和成人 Hb 亚基的各种组合组成，这代表了发育生物学的一个主要范例，目前仍未被理解，我们在此处探讨这一范例。我们表明，这些 Hb 的亚基界面具有越来越强的结合强度，这表现在它们在非常低的 Hb 浓度下进行凝胶过滤时，四聚体、二聚体和单体的分布明显不同。这种成熟是由亚基之间为获得具有更强亚基相互作用的更有利伴侣而进行的竞争所介导的。因此，由于其内在特性，基因表达的蛋白质产物本身可以在发育过程中发挥作用。
