The Effect of 75% Glycerol on the Oxygen-Binding Properties of Carp Hemoglobin

At pH 6 in the presence of inositol hexaphosphate, IHP, conditions where ligand-saturated carp hemoglobin is already in the low affinity T state, the addition of glycerol has little effect on affinity and ligand binding remains noncooperative. At all other pH values examined, with and without IHP, the effect of glycerol is to lower oxygen affinity possibly by shifting the equilibrium between the T state and the high affinity R state in the direction of the T state. Although glycerol does not appear to have an appreciable effect on the T state itself, a small effect on the R state cannot be excluded by our data.