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Biomedical subjects

J Hofrichter

Publications and source records attributed to J Hofrichter.

66 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

Supersaturation in sickle cell hemoglobin solutions.

The kinetic inhibition of the gelation of hemoglobin S is compared to the change in hemoglobin S soulbility, when the solubility is altered by carbon monoxide, pH, or urea. By means of a new technique, the delay time and the extent of gelation are measured on the same sample. They delay time, td, is found to be proportional to a high power (30-40) of the hemoglobin S solubility. Togehter with the previously reported concentration dependence, this result demonstrates that the rate is proportional to a high power of the supersaturation, S, defined as the ratio of the total hemoglobin S concentration to the equilibrium solubility. The results obey the supersaturation equation td-1 = gammaSn, where gamma is an empirical constant (about 10(-7) sec-1) and n is about 35. The supersaturation equation can successfully account for observations on the kinetics of cell sickling and is therefore used to estimate the increase in the delay time for sickling necessary to produce significant clinical benefit to patients with sickle cell disease.

Carbon Monoxide↗
PubMed1975

Optical spectra and electronic structure of flavine mononucleotide in flavodoxin crystals.

The polarized single-crystal absorption spectra of the oxidized and semiquinone forms of flavodoxin from Clostridium MP have been measured with a double beam recording microspectrophotometer. The spectra establish that the radical species in the crystal is the neutral (blue) falvine semiquinone. Combination of the spectra reported here with polarization data from previous fluorescence and stretched-film studies provides transition moment directions for the first two phi-phi transitions of the oxidized form. Predictions of molecular orbital theory are in good agreement with these experimental directions. The crystal spectra of the semiquinone indicate that the two lowest frequency transitions have the same detailed orbital origin as the corresponding transitions of the oxidized form; in the semiquinone these transitions appear at lower frequency, are closer together, and, as predicted from detailed considerations of transition probabilities, exhibit approximately half the absorption intensity. Our hypothesis of a common orbital origin suggests that semiquinone formation takes place by the addition of an electron to the lowest empty phi orbital of the oxidized form without any gross electronic rearrangement.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1974

Kinetics and mechanism of deoxyhemoglobin S gelation: a new approach to understanding sickle cell disease.

We report the results of a kinetic investigation on the gelation of purified deoxyhemoglobin S. Gelation was induced by raising the temperature and was monitored by measuring both the heat absorbed, with a microcalorimeter, and the appearance of linear birefringence, with a microspectrophotometer. The kinetics are unusual. Prior to the onset of gelation there is a delay period, followed by a sigmoidal progress curve. The delay time is formally dependent on approximately the 30th power of the deoxyhemoglobin S concentration; a decrease in concentration from 23 to 22 g/dl increases the delay time by a factor of four. It is also extremely temperature dependent; a 1 degrees C temperature rise in the range 20-30 degrees C almost halves the delay time. From these results we conclude that the initial rate is controlled by the nucleation of individual fibers. We present a kinetic model that accounts for the concentration, temperature, and time dependence of the initial phase of the gelation reaction. Extrapolation of our data to physiological conditions predicts that changes in intracellular hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation, realizable in vivo, produce enormous changes in the delay time. The range of delay times spans both the mean capillary transit and total circulation times. This result points to the delay time as an extremely important variable in determining the course of sickle cell disease, and suggests a new approach to therapy.

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1973

Structure of hemoglobin S fibers: optical determination of the molecular orientation in sickled erythrocytes.

Possible orientations of deoxyhemoglobin S molecules within sickle-cell fibers are delimited by polarized absorption measurements on single sickled cells and single crystals of deoxyhemoglobin A. The polarization ratio of cells provides a lower limit for that of an individual fiber and, coupled with the absorption properties of the deoxyhemoglobin molecule, restricts the orientation of the long molecular (x) axis to within 22 degrees of the fiber axis. Adopting the stacked ring model of Finch et al. for the molecular positions and the additional constraint that at least one mutated (beta6) site is part of an intermolecular contact, our optical result requires that the true molecular dyad (y) axis pass through some part of an adjacent molecule in the same ring. This range of orientations for the y axis is approximately perpendicular to those described in existing models and places at least one beta6 residue in position to be part of a contact between molecules in the same ring.

Anemia, Sickle Cell↗