Ligand-Based Regulation of Dynamics and Reactivity of Hemoproteins.

Hemoproteins include several heme-binding proteins with distinct structure and function. The presence of the heme group confers specific reactivity and spectroscopic properties to hemoproteins. In this review, we provide an overview of five families of hemoproteins in terms of dynamics and reactivity. First, we describe how ligands modulate cooperativity and reactivity in globins, such as myoglobin and hemoglobin. Second, we move on to another family of hemoproteins devoted to electron transport, such as cytochromes. Later, we consider heme-based reactivity in hemopexin, the main heme-scavenging protein. Then, we focus on heme-albumin, a chronosteric hemoprotein with peculiar spectroscopic and enzymatic properties. Eventually, we analyze the reactivity and dynamics of the most recently discovered family of hemoproteins, i.e., nitrobindins.

Serum Albumin: A Multifaced Enzyme.

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in plasma, contributing actively to oncotic pressure maintenance and fluid distribution between body compartments. HSA acts as the main carrier of fatty acids, recognizes metal ions, affects pharmacokinetics of many drugs, provides the metabolic modification of some ligands, renders potential toxins harmless, accounts for most of the anti-oxidant capacity of human plasma, and displays esterase, enolase, glucuronidase, and peroxidase (pseudo)-enzymatic activities. HSA-based catalysis is physiologically relevant, affecting the metabolism of endogenous and exogenous compounds including proteins, lipids, cholesterol, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and drugs. Catalytic properties of HSA are modulated by allosteric effectors, competitive inhibitors, chemical modifications, pathological conditions, and aging. HSA displays anti-oxidant properties and is critical for plasma detoxification from toxic agents and for pro-drugs activation. The enzymatic properties of HSA can be also exploited by chemical industries as a scaffold to produce libraries of catalysts with improved proficiency and stereoselectivity for water decontamination from poisonous agents and environmental contaminants, in the so called "green chemistry" field. Here, an overview of the intrinsic and metal dependent (pseudo-)enzymatic properties of HSA is reported to highlight the roles played by this multifaced protein.

Apohemoglobin-haptoglobin complex attenuates the pathobiology of circulating acellular hemoglobin and heme.

Haptoglobin (Hp) is the plasma protein that binds and clears cell-free hemoglobin (Hb), whereas apohemoglobin (apoHb, i.e., Hb devoid of heme) can bind heme. Therefore, the apoHb-Hp protein complex should facilitate holoHb-apoHb αß-dimer exchange and apoHb-heme intercalation. Thus, we hypothesized that apoHb-Hp could facilitate both Hb and heme clearance, which, if not alleviated, could have severe microcirculatory consequences. In this study, we characterized apoHb-Hp and Hb/heme ligand interactions and assessed their in vivo consequences. Hb exchange and heme binding with the apoHb-Hp complex was studied with transfer assays using size-exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV-visible spectrophotometry. Exchange/transfer experiments were conducted in guinea pigs dosed with Hb or heme-albumin followed by a challenge with equimolar amounts of apoHb-Hp. Finally, systemic and microcirculatory parameters were studied in hamsters instrumented with a dorsal window chamber via intravital microscopy. In vitro and in vivo Hb exchange and heme transfer experiments demonstrated proof-of-concept Hb/heme ligand transfer to apoHb-Hp. Dosing with the apoHb-Hp complex reversed Hb- and heme-induced systemic hypertension and microvascular vasoconstriction, reduced microvascular blood flow, and diminished functional capillary density. Therefore, this study highlights the apoHb-Hp complex as a novel therapeutic strategy to attenuate the adverse systemic and microvascular responses to intravascular Hb and heme exposure.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study highlights the apoHb-Hp complex as a novel therapeutic strategy to attenuate the adverse systemic and microvascular responses to intravascular Hb and heme exposure. In vitro and in vivo Hb exchange and heme transfer experiments demonstrated proof-of-concept Hb/heme ligand transfer to apoHb-Hp. The apoHb-Hp complex reverses Hb- and heme-induced systemic hypertension and microvascular vasoconstriction, preserves microvascular blood flow, and functional capillary density. In summary, the unique properties of the apoHb-Hp complex prevent adverse systemic and microvascular responses to Hb and heme-albumin exposure and introduce a novel therapeutic approach to facilitate simultaneous removal of extracellular Hb and heme.

Warfarin inhibits allosterically the reductive nitrosylation of ferric human serum heme-albumin.

Human serum heme-albumin (HSA-heme-Fe) displays heme-based ligand binding and (pseudo-)enzymatic properties. Here, the effect of the prototypical drug warfarin on kinetics and thermodynamics of NO binding to ferric and ferrous HSA-heme-Fe (HSA-heme-Fe(III) and HSA-heme-Fe(II), respectively) and on the NO-mediated reductive nitrosylation of the heme-Fe atom is reported; data were obtained between pH5.5 and 9.5 at 20.0°C. Since warfarin is a common drug, its effect on the reactivity of HSA-heme-Fe represents a relevant issue in the pharmacological therapy management. The inhibition of NO binding to HSA-heme-Fe(III) and HSA-heme-Fe(II) as well as of the NO-mediated reductive nitrosylation of the heme-Fe(III) atom by warfarin has been ascribed to drug binding to the fatty acid binding site 2 (FA2), shifting allosterically the penta-to-six coordination equilibrium of the heme-Fe atom toward the low reactive species showing the six-coordinated metal center by His146 and Tyr161 residues. These data: (i) support the role of HSA-heme-Fe in trapping NO, (ii) highlight the modulation of the heme-Fe-based reactivity by drugs, and (iii) could be relevant for the modulation of HSA functions by drugs in vivo.

Imatinib binding to human serum albumin modulates heme association and reactivity.

Imatinib, an inhibitor of the Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase, is approximately 95% bound to plasma proteins, α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) being the primary carrier. However, human serum albumin (HSA) may represent the secondary carrier of imatinib in pathological states characterized by low AGP levels, such as pancreatic cancer, hepatic cirrhosis, hepatitis, hyperthyroidism, nephrotic syndrome, malnutrition, and cachexia. Here, thermodynamics of imatinib binding to full-length HSA and its recombinant Asp1-Glu382 truncated form (containing only the FA1, FA2, FA6, and FA7 binding sites; trHSA), in the absence and presence of ferric heme (heme-Fe(III)), and the thermodynamics of heme-Fe(III) binding to HSA and trHSA, in the absence and presence of imatinib, has been investigated. Moreover, the effect of imatinib on kinetics of peroxynitrite detoxification by ferric human serum heme-albumin (HSA-heme-Fe(III)) and ferric truncated human serum heme-albumin (trHSA-heme-Fe(III)) has been explored. All data were obtained at pH 7.0, and 20.0 °C and 37.0 °C. Imatinib binding to the FA7 site of HSA and trHSA inhibits allosterically heme-Fe(III) association to the FA1 site and vice versa, according to linked functions. Moreover, imatinib binding to the secondary FA2 site of HSA-heme-Fe(III) inhibits allosterically peroxynitrite detoxification. Docking simulations and local structural comparison with other imatinib-binding proteins support functional data indicating the preferential binding of imatinib to the FA1 and FA7 sites of HSA, and to the FA2 and FA7 sites of HSA-heme-Fe(III). Present results highlight the allosteric coupling of the FA1, FA2, and FA7 sites of HSA, and may be relevant in modulating ligand binding and reactivity properties of HSA in vivo.

Functional role of transient conformations: Rediscovering "chronosteric effects" thirty years later.

Proteins are dynamic entities that exert, in some cases, their functions via complex pathways, involving active transient species. This phenomenon was highlighted for the first time in 1983 by Antonini et al. (J. Biol. Chem. 258, 4676-4678), who demonstrated that at least one intermediate occurring in the formation of the bovine ß-trypsin-Kunitz inhibitor complex displayed catalytic properties different from those of the active enzyme and of the inactive enzyme-inhibitor adduct. Since it was impossible to explain this phenomenon in terms of static three-dimensional structures, the term "chronosteric effects" was coined to capture the observation that transient species are relevant to protein function(s). Here, some recent results on the folding and function of proteins are reported on the light of chronosteric effects.