NMR relaxation studies of the interaction of thiocyanate with lactoperoxidase.

The interaction of lactoperoxidase, LPO, with its substrate, thiocyanate, SCN-, has been investigated by 13C and 15N NMR relaxation measurements. When 0.1 M SCN-, enriched with either 13C or 15N, was titrated with native ferric lactoperoxidase a large change in the spin-lattice relaxation time of the respective nucleus was observed. In the presence of saturating amounts of CN-, a high affinity ligand for the heme iron, a similar but much smaller change in the relaxation time for SCN- was found. Studies of the rate of carbon relaxation as a function of temperature have shown that thiocyanate is in fast exchange between a site on the enzyme and bulk solution. When LPO in either the absence or presence of CN- was titrated with SCN- a linear increase in the relaxation time was observed. Dissociation constants (Kd values) have been determined from a least-squares analysis of these data. Apparent distances between the heme iron of lactoperoxidase and either the carbon or nitrogen atoms of bound thiocyanate ion have been determined through application of the Solomon-Bloembergen equation. These distances demonstrate that the observed association does not involve iron-thiocyanate coordination, suggesting the possibility of an anion binding site.

25Mg NMR studies of magnesium binding to erythrocyte constituents.

The binding of Mg2+ ion to ATP, ADP, AMP, 2,3-bisphosphyoglycerate (DPG), and hemoglobin has been studied by 25Mg NMR spectroscopy at 9.4 T. Addition of any of these ligands to a solution of 2 mM 25MgCl2 at pH 7.2 caused a progressive increase in linewidth, with no discernible chemical shift. ATP and ADP, which form tight 1:1 complexes with Mg2+, did not cause maximal broadening until present in several-fold excess, implying that bis(nucleotide) complexes also form. The studies showed progressively weaker Mg2+ binding to ATP, ADP, DPG, and AMP, consistent with published binding constants. Hemoglobin cause fairly little broadening, consistent with its known weak affinity for Mg2+. Competition studies determined ATP affinities for Ca2+ and H+ that were also in good agreement with published values. 25Mg NMR spectra of 2 mM bound 25Mg2+ were obtained with good signal to noise in less than 1 hr. The technique may now be a practical means for studying the binding of Mg2+ within erythrocytes and other cells.

19F nuclear magnetic resonance as a probe of the spatial relationship between the heme iron of cytochrome P-450 and its substrate.

The distance between the heme iron of ferrous cytochrome P-450-CAM and a fluorine label attached to the 9-methyl carbon of its substrate, (1R)-(+)-camphor, has been determined using 19F NMR. This investigation uses the Solomon-Bloembergen equation to measure the distance from a paramagnetic heme iron to a fluorine probe incorporated into a substrate that is not in fast exchange. The structural identity of the substrate analogue, 9-fluorocamphor, has been established using one- and two-dimensional NMR methods and mass spectrometry. The relaxation rate of 9-fluorocamphor bound to high-spin paramagnetic ferrous P-450-CAM has been studied at 188, 282, and 376 MHz, and the correlation time has been directly determined from the frequency dependence of the relaxation rate. When the substrate analogue was bound to the low-spin diamagnetic ferrous-CO derivative of the enzyme, the relaxation rate was found to be 100 times slower and was therefore neglected in the distance calculation. The relaxation data for the paramagnetic system and the correlation time have been used to calculate a distance of 3.8 A between the heme iron and the C-9 fluoride. A fit of the distance and the chemical shift data to the pseudocontact shift equation predicts an angle of approximately 52 degrees between the heme normal and the Fe-F vector. The solution state Fe-F distance is somewhat shorter and the angle between the heme normal and the Fe-F vector slightly larger for the substrate-bound ferrous enzyme reported herein than the analogous values for the substrate-bound ferric enzyme determined in the solid state by x-ray crystallography. These differences may reflect a structural change at the substrate-binding site upon reduction of the iron.