Cell-free and alkylated hemoproteins improve survival in mouse models of carbon monoxide poisoning.

I.v. administration of a high-affinity carbon monoxide-binding (CO-binding) molecule, recombinant neuroglobin, can improve survival in CO poisoning mouse models. The current study aims to discover how biochemical variables of the scavenger determine the CO removal from the RBCs by evaluating 3 readily available hemoproteins, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate stripped human hemoglobin (StHb); N-ethylmaleimide modified hemoglobin (NEMHb); and equine myoglobin (Mb). These molecules efficiently sequester CO from hemoglobin in erythrocytes in vitro. A kinetic model was developed to predict the CO binding efficacy for hemoproteins, based on their measured in vitro oxygen and CO binding affinities, suggesting that the therapeutic efficacy of hemoproteins for CO poisoning relates to a high M value, which is the binding affinity for CO relative to oxygen (KA,CO/KA,O2). In a lethal CO poisoning mouse model, StHb, NEMHb, and Mb improved survival by 100%, 100%, and 60%, respectively, compared with saline controls and were well tolerated in 48-hour toxicology assessments. In conclusion, both StHb and NEMHb have high CO binding affinities and M values, and they scavenge CO efficiently in vitro and in vivo, highlighting their therapeutic potential for point-of-care antidotal therapy of CO poisoning.

Regulation of nitrite reductase and lipid binding properties of cytoglobin by surface and distal histidine mutations.

Cytoglobin is a hemoprotein widely expressed in fibroblasts and related cell lineages with yet undefined physiological function. Cytoglobin, as other heme proteins, can reduce nitrite to nitric oxide (NO) providing a route to generate NO in vivo in low oxygen conditions. In addition, cytoglobin can also bind lipids such as oleic acid and cardiolipin with high affinity. These two processes are potentially relevant to cytoglobin function. Little is known about how specific amino acids contribute to nitrite reduction and lipid binding. Here we investigate the role of the distal histidine His81 (E7) and several surface residues on the regulation of nitrite reduction and lipid binding. We observe that the replacement of His81 (E7) greatly increases heme reactivity towards nitrite, with nitrite reduction rate constants of up to 1100 M-1s-1 for the His81Ala mutant. His81 (E7) mutation causes a small decrease in lipid binding affinity, however experiments on the presence of imidazole indicate that His81 (E7) does not compete with the lipid for the binding site. Mutations of the surface residues Arg84 and Lys116 largely impair lipid binding. Our results suggest that dissociation of His81 (E7) from the heme mediates the formation of a hydrophobic cavity in the proximal heme side that can accommodate the lipid, with important contributions of the hydrophobic patch around residues Thr91, Val105, and Leu108, whereas the positive charges from Arg84 and Lys116 stabilize the carboxyl group of the fatty acid. Gain and loss-of-function mutations described here can serve as tools to study in vivo the physiological role of these putative cytoglobin functions.

Redox sensor properties of human cytoglobin allosterically regulate heme pocket reactivity.

Cytoglobin is a conserved hemoprotein ubiquitously expressed in mammalian tissues, which conducts electron transfer reactions with proposed signaling functions in nitric oxide (NO) and lipid metabolism. Cytoglobin has an E7 distal histidine (His81), which unlike related globins such as myoglobin and hemoglobin, is in equilibrium between a bound, hexacoordinate state and an unbound, pentacoordinate state. The His81 binding equilibrium appears to be allosterically modulated by the presence of an intramolecular disulfide between two cysteines (Cys38 and Cys83). The formation of this disulfide bridge regulates nitrite reductase activity and lipid binding. Herein, we attempt to clarify the effects of defined thiol oxidation states on small molecule binding of cytoglobin heme, using cyanide binding to probe the ferric state. Cyanide binding kinetics to wild-type cytoglobin reveal at least two kinetically distinct subpopulations, depending on thiol oxidation states. Experiments with covalent thiol modification by NEM, glutathione, and amino acid substitutions (C38S, C83S and H81A), indicate that subpopulations ranging from fully reduced thiols, single thiol oxidation, and intramolecular disulfide formation determine heme binding properties by modulating the histidine-heme affinity and ligand binding. The redox modulation of ligand binding is sensitive to physiological levels of hydrogen peroxide, with a functional midpoint redox potential for the native cytoglobin intramolecular disulfide bond of -189 ± 4 mV, a value within the boundaries of intracellular redox potentials. These results support the hypothesis that Cys38 and Cys83 on cytoglobin serve as sensitive redox sensors that modulate the cytoglobin distal heme pocket reactivity and ligand binding.

A neuroglobin-based high-affinity ligand trap reverses carbon monoxide-induced mitochondrial poisoning.

Carbon monoxide (CO) remains the most common cause of human poisoning. The consequences of CO poisoning include cardiac dysfunction, brain injury, and death. CO causes toxicity by binding to hemoglobin and by inhibiting mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (CcO), thereby decreasing oxygen delivery and inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation. We have recently developed a CO antidote based on human neuroglobin (Ngb-H64Q-CCC). This molecule enhances clearance of CO from red blood cells in vitro and in vivo Herein, we tested whether Ngb-H64Q-CCC can also scavenge CO from CcO and attenuate CO-induced inhibition of mitochondrial respiration. Heart tissue from mice exposed to 3% CO exhibited a 42 ± 19% reduction in tissue respiration rate and a 33 ± 38% reduction in CcO activity compared with unexposed mice. Intravenous infusion of Ngb-H64Q-CCC restored respiration rates to that of control mice correlating with higher electron transport chain CcO activity in Ngb-H64Q-CCC-treated compared with PBS-treated, CO-poisoned mice. Further, using a Clark-type oxygen electrode, we measured isolated rat liver mitochondrial respiration in the presence and absence of saturating solutions of CO (160 µm) and nitric oxide (100 µm). Both CO and NO inhibited respiration, and treatment with Ngb-H64Q-CCC (100 and 50 µm, respectively) significantly reversed this inhibition. These results suggest that Ngb-H64Q-CCC mitigates CO toxicity by scavenging CO from carboxyhemoglobin, improving systemic oxygen delivery and reversing the inhibitory effects of CO on mitochondria. We conclude that Ngb-H64Q-CCC or other CO scavengers demonstrate potential as antidotes that reverse the clinical and molecular effects of CO poisoning.

The Zebrafish Cytochrome b5/Cytochrome b5 Reductase/NADH System Efficiently Reduces Cytoglobins 1 and 2: Conserved Activity of Cytochrome b5/Cytochrome b5 Reductases during Vertebrate Evolution.

Cytoglobin is a heme protein evolutionarily related to hemoglobin and myoglobin. Cytoglobin is expressed ubiquitously in mammalian tissues; however, its physiological functions are yet unclear. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the cytoglobin gene is highly conserved in vertebrate clades, from fish to reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. Most proposed roles for cytoglobin require the maintenance of a pool of reduced cytoglobin (FeII). We have shown previously that the human cytochrome b5/cytochrome b5 reductase system, considered a quintessential hemoglobin/myoglobin reductant, can reduce human and zebrafish cytoglobins ≤250-fold faster than human hemoglobin or myoglobin. It was unclear whether this reduction of zebrafish cytoglobins by mammalian proteins indicates a conserved pathway through vertebrate evolution. Here, we report the reduction of zebrafish cytoglobins 1 and 2 by the zebrafish cytochrome b5 reductase and the two zebrafish cytochrome b5 isoforms. In addition, the reducing system also supports reduction of Globin X, a conserved globin in fish and amphibians. Indeed, the zebrafish reducing system can maintain a fully reduced pool for both cytoglobins, and both cytochrome b5 isoforms can support this process. We determined the P50 for oxygen to be 0.5 Torr for cytoglobin 1 and 4.4 Torr for cytoglobin 2 at 25 °C. Thus, even at low oxygen tensions, the reduced cytoglobins may exist in a predominant oxygen-bound form. Under these conditions, the cytochrome b5/cytochrome b5 reductase system can support a conserved role for cytoglobins through evolution, providing electrons for redox signaling reactions such as nitric oxide dioxygenation, nitrite reduction, and phospholipid oxidation.