Effect of Mutation of Carboxyl Side-Chain Amino Acids Near the Heme on the Midpoint Potentials and Ligand Binding Constants of Nitrophorin 2 and Its NO, Histamine, and Imidazole Complexes

Nitrophorins (NPs) are a group of NO-carrying heme proteins found in the saliva of a blood-sucking insect from tropical Central and South America, Rhodnius prolixus, the “kissing bug”. NO is kept stable for long periods of time by binding it as an axial ligand to a ferriheme center. The fact that the nitrophorins are stabilized as FeIII−NO proteins is a unique property because most heme proteins are readily autoreduced by excess NO and bind NO to the Fe(II) heme irreversibly (Kds in the picomolar range). In contrast, the nitrophorins, as Fe(III) heme centers, have Kds in the micromolar to nanomolar range and thus allow NO to dissociate upon dilution following injection into the tissues of the victim. This NO can cause vasodilation and thereby allow more blood to be transported to the site of the wound. We prepared 13 site-directed mutants of three major nitrophorins, NP2, NP1, and NP4, to investigate the stabilization of the ferric−NO heme center and preservation of reversible binding that facilitates the...