Francisco A O Carvalho, José W P Carvalho, Ezer Biazin, Patrícia S Santiago, Marcel Tabak
Rhinodrilus alatus is an annelid and its giant extracellular hemoglobin (HbRa) has a molecular mass (MM) of 3500kDa. In the current study, the characterization of MM values of the HbRa subunits, and the effects of surfactants and alkaline pH upon HbRa stability were monitored. Electrophoresis, MALDI-TOF-MS and AUC show that the MM values of HbRa subunits are very close, but not identical to the Glossoscolex paulistus hemoglobin (HbGp). The monomer d is found to exist in, at least, two isoforms: the main one, d1, displays a MM of 16,166±16Da, and the second one, d2, is less intense with MM of 16,490±20Da...
January 2014: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part B, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology