The kinetics and thermodynamics of the interactions of transferrin receptor 1 with holotransferrin and apotransferrin in neutral and mildly acidic media are investigated at 37 degrees C in the presence of CHAPS micelles. Receptor 1 interacts with CHAPS in a very fast kinetic step (<1 micros). This is followed in neutral media by the interaction with holotransferrin which occurs in two steps after receptor deprotonation, with a proton dissociation constant (K(1a)) of 10.0 +/- 1.5 nM. The first step is detected by the T-jump technique and is associated with a molecular interaction between the receptor and holotransferrin. It occurs with a first-order rate constant (k(-1)) of (1.6 +/- 0.2) x 10(4) s(-1), a second-order rate constant (k(1)) of (3.20 +/- 0.2) x 10(10) M(-1) s(-1), and a dissociation constant (K(1)) of 0.50 +/- 0.07 microM. This step is followed by a slow change in the conformation with a relaxation time (tau(2)) of 3400 +/- 400 s and an equilibrium constant (K(2)) of (4.6 +/- 1.0) x 10(-3) with an overall affinity of the receptor for holotransferrin [(K'1)(-1)] of (4.35 +/- 0.60) x 10(8) M(-1). Apotransferrin does not interact with receptor 1 in neutral media, between pH 4.9 and 6, it interacts with the receptor in two steps after a receptor deprotonation (K(2a) = 2.30 +/- 0.3 microM). The first step occurs in the range of 1000-3000 s. It is ascribed to a slow change in the conformation which rate-controls a fast interaction between apotransferrin and receptor 1 with an overall affinity constant [(K(3))(-1)] of (2.80 +/- 0.30) x 10(7) M(-1). These results imply that receptor 1 probably exists in at least two forms, the neutral species which interacts with holotransferrin and not with apotransferrin and the acidic species which interacts with apotransferrin. At first, the interaction of the neutral receptor with holotransferrin is extremely fast. It is followed by the slow change in conformation, which leads to an important stabilization of the thermodynamic structure. In the acidic media of the endosome, the interaction of apotransferrin with the acidic receptor is sufficiently strong and rate-controlled by a very slow change in conformation which allows recycling back to the plasma membrane.

The kinetics and thermodynamics of Al(III) exchange between aluminum citrate (AlL) and human serum transferrin were investigated in the 7.2-8.9 pH range. The C-site of human serum apotransferrin in interaction with bicarbonate removes Al(III) from Al citrate with an exchange equilibrium constant K1 = (2.0 +/- 0.6) x 10(-2); a direct second-order rate constant k1 = 45 +/- 3 M(-1) x s(-1); and a reverse second-order rate constant k(-1) = (2.3 +/- 0.5) x 10(3) M(-1) x s(-1). The newly formed aluminum-protein complex loses a single proton with proton dissociation constant K1a = (15 +/- 3) nM to yield a first kinetic intermediate. This intermediate then undergoes a modification in its conformation followed by two proton losses; first-order rate constant k2 = (4.20 +/- 0.02) x 10(-2) s(-1) to produce a second kinetic intermediate, which in turn undergoes a last slow modification in the conformation to yield the aluminum-loaded transferrin in its final state. This last process rate-controls Al(III) uptake by the N-site of the protein and is independent of the experimental parameters with a constant reciprocal relaxation time tau3(-1) = (6 +/- 1) x 10(-5) x s(-1). The affinities involved in aluminum uptake by serum transferrins are about 10 orders of magnitude lower than those involved in the uptake of iron. The interactions of iron-loaded transferrins with transferrin receptor 1 occur with average dissociation constants of 3 +/- 1 and 5 +/- 1 nM for the only C-site iron-loaded and of 6.0 +/- 0.6 and 7 +/- 0.5 nM for the iron-saturated ST in the absence or presence of CHAPS, respectively. No interaction is detected between receptor 1 and aluminum-saturated or mixed C-site iron-loaded/N-site aluminum-loaded transferrin under the same conditions. The fact that aluminum can be solubilized by serum transferrin in biological fluids does not necessarily imply that its transfer from the blood stream to cytoplasm follows the receptor-mediated pathway of iron transport by transferrins.

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Iron release from ovotransferrin in acidic media (3 , pH , 6) occurs in at least six kinetic steps. The first is a very fast (# 5 ms) decarbonation of the iron-loaded protein. Iron release from both sites of the protein is controlled by what appear to be slow proton transfers. The N-site loses its iron first in two steps, the first occurring in the tenth of a second range with second order rate constant k 1 = (2.30^0.10) Â 10 4 m 21´s21 , first order rate constant k 21 = (1.40^0.10) s 21 and equilibrium constant K 1a = (60^6) mm. The second step occurs in the second range with a second order rate constant k 2 = (5.2^0.15) Â 10 3 m 21´s21 , first order rate constant k 22 = (0.2^0.02) s 21 and equilibrium constant K 2a = (39^5) mm. Iron is afterward lost from the C-site of the protein by two different pathways, one in the presence of a strong Fe(III) ligand such as citrate and the other in the presence of weak ligands such as formate or acetate. The first step, common to both paths, is a slow proton uptake which occurs in the tens of second range with a second order rate constant k 3 = (1.22^0.03) Â 10 3 m 21´s21 and equilibrium constant K 3a = (1.0^0.1) mm. In the presence of citrate, this step is followed by formation of an intermediate complex with monoferric ovotransferrin; stability constant K LC = (0.435^0.015) mm. This last step is rate-controlled by slow proton gain which occurs in the hundred second range with a second order rate constant k 4 = (1.05^0.05) Â 10 4 m 21´s21 , first order rate constant k 24 = (1.0^0.1) Â 10 22 s 21 and equilibrium constant K 4a = (0.95^0.15) mm. In the presence of a weak iron(III) ligand such as acetate or formate, formation of an intermediate complex is not detected and iron release is controlled by two final slow proton uptakes. The first occurs in the hundred to thousand second range, second order rate constant k 5 = (6.90^0.30) Â 10 6 m 21´s21 . The last step occurs in the thousand second range. Iron release by ovotransferrin is similar but not identical to that of serum-transferrin. It is slower and occurs at lower pH values. However, as seen for serum-transferrin, it seems to involve the protonation of the amino acid sidechains involved in iron co-ordination and perhaps those implicated in interdomain H-bonds. The observed proton transfers are, then, probably controlled by the change in conformation of the binding lobes from closed when iron-loaded to open in the apo-form.Keywords: transferrin; ovotransferrin; iron metabolism; stopped-flow.Transferrins constitute the most important iron regulation system in vertebrates and some invertebrates, such as worms and insects [1]. Soluble transferrins, such as serum-transferrin, lactoferrin and ovotransferrin, are glycoproteins consisting of a single chain of about 700 amino acids and 80 kDa. These proteins have very similar 3D structures and are all bilobal. Each lobe contains an iron complexation cleft, in which the metal is co-ordinated to the side-chains of four amino acid ligands and a synergistic carbonate or bicarbonate...

The role of protonation of amino acid ligands involved in iron release from human serum transferrin, previously saturated with nitrilotriacetatoiron(II1) complex, has been elucidated in acidic media. Iron loss occurs first from the N-terminal site at p H < 6 and is followed at p H < 4 by iron release from the C-terminal iron-binding site. Nitrilotriacetatoiron(II1) release from the N-terminal site is controlled by the slow protonation of the mixed proteidnitrilotriacetatoiron(II1) complex ; the second-order rate constant was k,, = 9.95 * 0.35X104M-' . s-'. Protonation of an amino acid ligand in the C-terminal site leads to a new protein-site-C-loaded mixed complex with dissociation constant K4 = 0.300 f-0.025 mM. Nitrilotriacetatoiron(II1) release is the result of mixed complex dissociation and the slow rate-limiting protonation of the iron-free protein with a proton dissociation constant K5* = 0.100 f 0.010 mM and a second-order rate constant k5a = 4.20 f 0.40X lo3 M-' . s-'. The mechanism of iron uptake and release seems to imply that slow proton transfers can induce complex formation between iron and the amino acid ligands of each of the protein iron-binding sites. These slow proton transfers may be controlled by the change of conformation of the binding sites upon iron loss.Transferrin is one of the proteins responsible for regulating iron levels in the biological fluids of vertebrates [l, In these sites, iron(II1) is probably complexed to the lateral chains of four protein ligands, two tyrosine residues, one aspartate residue and one histidine residue [4, 51. The metal is, moreover, close to a carbonate in an unknown state of protonation (C0:-or HCO;) adjacent to an arginine residue [4]. However, the binding site situated in the C-terminal lobe (C) of the protein has greater affinity for iron than the binding site situated in the N-terminal lobe (N) 16, 71. In the blood stream, transferrin extracts iron(II1) from soluble lowmolecular-mass chelates with the assistance of synergistic carbonate [7-91 which gives transferrin a high affinity for iron (lo2') M-') [7]. This affinity decreases to 10'" M-' when carbonate is replaced in media at pH 6.5-8.5 by other synergistic anions such as nitrilotriacetate [l]. Most of the recently available data deal with metal depletion from iron-loaded transfemin (TFe) by treatment with an excess of low-molecuCorrespondence to J