Light-scattering investigations of the subunit dissociation of human hemoglobin A. Effects of various neutral salts.

The effectiveness of various salts of the Hofmeister series as dissociating agents for human hemoglobin A tetramers has been investigated by light-scattering molecular-weight measurements. Dissociation of hemoglobin to half-molecules of alpha beta dimers follows the order of the series dictated predominantly by the sequence of the anions F- less than Cl- less than Br- less than ClO4- less than SCN-, I-, with the cations Na+ and K+ having relatively little effect on the observed dissociation. The use of equations derived for predicting the effects of dissociating reagents on the structure of subunit proteins [Herskovits, T. T., and Ibanez, V. S. (1976), Biochemistry 15, 5715] together with Setschenow constants based on the model amino acid data of Nandi and Robinson were found to give a satisfactory account of the dissociation behavior observed with many of the salts, giving reasonable estimates of the number of amino acids that form the smaller contact area of the alpha beta subunits of hemoglobin shown by the Perutz crystallographic model. The analysis of the dissociation data also extends the utility of the Setschenow constants tested for the characterization of the dissociation behavior of other subunit proteins.