Anion transport across the red blood cell membrane and the conformation of the protein in Band 3.

Measuring the rate of dinitrophenylation of a specific lysine residue (called a) that is allosterically linked to the transfer site, it could be demonstrated that the anion transport protein may exist in two different conformational states, designated cis and trans. In the cis conformation a is easily accessible for reaction with dinitrofluorobenzene; in the trans conformation, a is less accessible. In the presence of the substrate anion Cl, the equilibrium between the cis and trans conformation is towards the cis conformation. Reversibly acting inhibitors of anion transport arrest the transport system, either predominantly in the cis or in the trans conformation. Phlorizin and certain positively charged derivatives of furosemide produce arrest in cis conformation, internal 2-(4'-aminophenyl)-6-methylbenzenethiazol-3',7-disulfonate (APMB) and Ca++ in trans conformation. Within this frame of reference, the different susceptibilities of the transfer site to internal and external 4,4' diacetamido-2,2'-stilbene disulfonate (DAS) are interpreted on the assumption that the conformation of the transfer site changes during the transition of the transport protein from the cis to the trans conformation, so that in the trans conformation a reaction with DAS is no longer possible.