Kinetics of the alkaline tetramer leads to dimer dissociation in liganded human hemoglobin: a laser light-scattering stopped-flow study.

The first-order dissociation of tetrameric HbCO to the dimer has been studied overthe pH range 10.30-11.57 in a light-scattering stopped-flow apparatus using argon-ion laser excitation. The first-order dissociation rate constant varies from 0.25 sec-1 to 24.0 sec-1over this pH interval. A semilogarithmic plot of k versus pH has a slope of 2.56 at pH 11.07, the midpoint. The pH dependence of the dissociation of the tetramer is consistent with progressive titration of alpha1-alpha2 and beta1-beta2 salt bridges. At pH 10.66, the dissociation rates of HbO2, HbCO, methemoglobin, and HbCN vary less than 20% from their mean value. A study of the dissociation kinetics as a function of protein concentration allows one to obtain both association and dissociation rate constants, and hence equilibrium constants, for the tetramer in equilibrium dimer reaction. In this manner, equilibrium constants were obtained on protein solutions with less than 15 sec of exposure to dissociating conditions.