1H NMR investigation of distal mutant deoxy myoglobins. Interpretation of proximal His contact shifts in terms of a localized distal water molecule.

1H NMR spectra of a series of distal point mutants of human and sperm whale deoxy myoglobin have been recorded and their spectral parameters compared with those of wild type. The substitutions investigated include His64(E7)-->Gly, Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, and Gln and Val68(E11)-->Ala, Ile. The three resonances from the proximal His F8 imidazole ring, as well as two heme methyl signals, are identified in each of the proteins. Significant perturbations of the NMR spectra of mutant deoxy myoglobins (Mbs) occurred only upon substitution of His64(E7) by any non-polar residue, with only minor variation in parameters throughout the range of side chains. These spectral changes are attributed to the elimination of a non-coordinated ordered water molecule in the distal pocket found hydrogen bonded to His64(E7) in crystals of wild-type deoxy Mb, but abolished in the His64(E7)-->Leu mutant deoxy Mb crystal (Quillin, M. L., Arduini, R. M., Olson, J. S., and Philips, G. N., Jr. (1993) J. Mol. Biol. 234, 140-155). The observed spectral changes, increased His F8 ring spin delocalization, and decreased heme in-plane asymmetry, can be directly attributed to the weakening of the effective axial field and a decrease in the asymmetry in the rhombic ligand field resulting from removal of the water molecule. The hyperfine shift patterns for the mutants His64(E7)-->Gln and Val68(E11)-->Ile deoxy Mbs are minimally perturbed from that of wild type and are interpreted to reflect a conserved distal water-binding site. In the point mutant Val68(E11)-->Ala, the decreased covalency to the axial His F8 is interpreted as reflecting a conserved distal water molecule that can interact more strongly with the iron due to the reduced steric bulk of the E11 side chain. The differential 1H NMR spectral parameters for the His F8 resonances in the two subunits of T state deoxy Hb A are shown to be similarly consistent with the known occupation of the distal water binding site in the alpha-, but not beta-subunit.