Equilibrium and kinetics of the reaction of Aplysia myoglobin with azide

The present paper reports a study on the equilibria and kinetics of the acid-alkaline transition and the azide binding reaction by ferric Aplysia myoglobin. A single completely reversible spectrophotometric titration curve is found over the pH range from similar to 5 to similar to 9, with an apparent pK equals to 7.5 for the acid-alkaline transition. The kinetics of the process, followed by the temperature-jump method, gives, at pH values close to the pK of the transition, one single, well-resolved, relaxation independent of protein concentration and of type of buffer used. The pattern accords to a simple pH dependent reaction, in buffered medium, between the two forms of the protein. The results of the azide binding reaction show that the process conforms to simple equilibrium as expected for a single site protein. The méasured association constant is reported as a function of pH. The kinetics of the reaction of Aplysia metMb with N3- minus shows, on the other hand, a complex behavior. The relaxation pattern is found to strongly depend on pH and ligand concentration in such a way to suggest a linkage between ligand binding and acid-alkaline transition. The system is discussed on the basis of two simplifying conditions, i.e., at low and higher pH with respect to the pK of the acid-alkaline transition. At acid pH the reaction corresponds to a single bimolecular process as expected for a simple binding reaction; at alkaline pH, the dependence of relaxation time on ligand concentration implies the existence of a rate-limiting monomolecular step. On the basis of a reaction scheme implying that binding of the ligand can only occur through the acid (aquomet) form of the protein via the displacement of the water molecule, the experimental data are quantitatively accounted for.