Calorimetric studies of carbon monoxide and inositol hexaphosphate binding to hemoglobin A

Heats of CO and IHP binding to hemoglobin A have been determined under a variety of buffer and pH conditions. From these data heats of ion binding linked to hemoglobin oxygenation have been estimated. For IHP binding to deoxyhemoglobin the buffer-corrected enthalpies are surprisingly large, reaching -25 kcal/mol of IHP at pH 7.4. These values correspond to approximately -11 kcal/mol of proton absorbed upon IHP binding and may rise largely from the protonation of hitidine and NH2-terminal groups in the binding site (Arnone, A., and Perutz, M.F. (1974) Nature 249, 34-36). The decreased magnitude of delta HIHP observed at low pH parallels the decreased proton uptake at low pH. In 0.1 M chloride (pH 7.4) the reaction Hb(aq) + IHP leads to Hb x IHP(aq) has a standard free energy change (Edalji, R., Benesch, R.E., and Benesch, R. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 7720-7721) of -10 kcal and an enthalpy change of -25 kcal. Therefore, enthalpic forces provide the dominant driving force of this process. The origin of these large negative enthalpy changes is attributed to the exothermic protonation of protein basic groups induced by the proximity of phosphate negative charges. The importance of protonation in the binding of organic phosphates to hemoglobin may well extend to the specific binding of other phosphate substrates to enzyme reaction sites.