An electrochemical study of hemoglobin in water-glycerol solutions

The effect the composition of a water-glycerol mixture has on the electrochemical properties of hemoglobin (Hb) is studied. With the increased glycerol concentrations, the peak-to-peak separation of hemoglobin is found to increase from approximately 40 to 200 mV, with the apparent standard potential of hemoglobin negatively shifted, which demonstrate that the electron-transfer activity of hemoglobin will decrease at relatively high glycerol concentrations and the oxidized state of hemoglobin will be more stable with the increasing glycerol concentrations. Meanwhile, the electrocatalytic activity of hemoglobin to hydrogen peroxide, as well as the binding of ligands or effectors to hemoglobin in the presence of glycerol, are also been investigated. Our studies indicate that glycerol will decrease the electrocatalytic activity of hemoglobin, while have little effect on the microenvironment around the heme site.