Scavenging of peroxynitrite by oxyhemoglobin and identification of modified globin residues

Peroxynitrite is a strong oxidant involved in cell injury. In tissues, most of peroxynitrite reacts preferentially with CO2 or hemaproteins, and these reactions affect its fate and toxicity. CO2 promotes tyrosine nitration but reduces the lifetime of peroxynitrite, preventing, at least in part, membrane crossing. The role of hemoproteins is not easily predictable, because the heme intercepts peroxynitrite, but its oxidation to ferryl species and tyrosyl radical(s) may catalyze tyrosine nitration. The modifications induced by peroxynitrite/CO2 on oxyhemoglobin were determined by mass spectrometry, and we found that alpha Tyr42, beta Tyr130, and, to a lesser extent, alpha Tyr24 were nitrated. The suggested nitration mechanism is tyrosyl radical formation by long-range electron transfer to ferrylhemoglobin followed by a reaction with (NO2)-N-.. Dityrosine (alpha 24-alpha 42) and disulfides (beta 93-beta 93 and alpha 104-alpha 104) were also detected, but these cross-linkings were largely due to modifications occurring under the denaturing conditions employed for mass spectrometry, Moreover, immunoelectrophoretic techniques showed that the 3-nitrotyrosine content of oxyhemoglobin sharply increased only in molar excess of peroxynitrite, thus suggesting that this hemoprotein is not a catalyst of nitration. The noncatalytic role may be due to the formation of the nitrating species (NO2)-N-. mainly in molar excess of peroxynitrite. In agreement with this hypothesis, oxyhemoglobin strongly inhibited tyrosine nitration of a target dipeptide (Ala-Tyr) and of membrane proteins from ghosts resealed with oxyhemoglobin. Erythrocytes were poor inhibitors of Ala-Tyr nitration on account of the membrane barrier. However, at the physiologic hematocrit, Ala-Tyr nitration was reduced by 65%. This "sink" function was facilitated by the huge amount of band 3 anion exchanger on the cell membrane. We conclude that in blood oxyhemoglobin is a peroxynitrite scavenger of physiologic relevance.