0000000000409874
AUTHOR
Paolo Di Muro
Subunits composition and allosteric control in Carcinus aestuarii hemocyanin
Carcinus aestuarii hemocyanin (Hc) exists in two aggregation forms at pH 7.5 and 20 mM Ca2+: 24S accounting for 90% of total hemocyanin and 16S accounting for 10%. Removal of metal cations by EDTA at neutral pH causes the complete dissociation of 24S hemocyanin into two different 16S. At pH 9.2, 24S hemocyanin dissociates into a pH stable 16S and a 5S component. The 5S component consists of three monomeric fractions named CaeSS1 (10%), CaeSS2 (50%) and CaeSS3 (40%); the latter fraction consisting of two isoforms. The fractions CaeSS1, CaeSS2 and CaeSS3 have been studied as far as their reassociation properties to form hexamers are concerned. We investigated the oxygen-binding properties of …
Entrapment and characterization of functional allosteric conformers of hemocyanin in sol–gel matrices
Hemocyanins are giant oxygen transport proteins of molluscs and arthropods, which display high cooperativity and a complex pattern of conformations, generated by hierarchical allosteric interactions of their complex quaternary structure. A still unanswered question is the correlation between the functional properties of the postulated conformers and structural features that govern their oxygen binding, such as metal complex coordination. In this study we focus on the dodecameric hemocyanin of the crustacean Carcinus aestuarii, with the aim to obtain a functional and structural characterization of the individual conformational states giving rise to cooperativity, by entrapping hemocyanin int…
Molecular heterogeneity of the hemocyanin isolated from the king crabParalithodes camtschaticae
Native Paralithodes camtschaticae hemocyanin is found as a mixture of dodecamers (24S; 80%) and hexamers (16S; 20%). Removal of Ca2+ ions by dialysis against EDTA-containing buffer solution at neutral pH induces complete dissociation of the 24S form into the 16S form. Under these conditions, a further increase in pH to 9.2 produces complete dissociation of the hexamers into monomers (5S). In both cases, the dissociation process is reversible. The dodecamer (24S) is composed of two different hexamers which can be discriminated only by ion-exchange chromatography in the presence of Ca2+ ions. At alkaline pH and in the presence of EDTA, two major monomeric fractions can be separated by ion-exc…