Showing papers on "Myoglobin published in 1991"

Ligand binding to heme proteins: connection between dynamics and function.

Abstract: Ligand binding to heme proteins is studied by using flash photolysis over wide ranges in time (100 ns-1 ks) and temperature (10-320 K). Below about 200 K in 75% glycerol/water solvent, ligand rebinding occurs from the heme pocket and is nonexponential in time. The kinetics is explained by a distribution, g(H), of the enthalpic barrier of height H between the pocket and the bound state. Above 170 K rebinding slows markedly. Previously we interpreted the slowing as a "matrix process" resulting from the ligand entering the protein matrix before rebinding. Experiments on band III, an inhomogeneously broadened charge-transfer band near 760 nm (approximately 13,000 cm-1) in the photolyzed state (Mb*) of (carbonmonoxy)myoglobin (MbCO), force us to reinterpret the data. Kinetic hole-burning measurements on band III in Mb* establish a relation between the position of a homogeneous component of band III and the barrier H. Since band III is red-shifted by 116 cm-1 in Mb* compared with Mb, the relation implies that the barrier in relaxed Mb is 12 kJ/mol higher than in Mb*. The slowing of the rebinding kinetics above 170 K hence is caused by the relaxation Mb*----Mb, as suggested by Agmon and Hopfield [(1983) J. Chem. Phys. 79, 2042-2053]. This conclusion is supported by a fit to the rebinding data between 160 and 290 K which indicates that the entire distribution g(H) shifts. Above about 200 K, equilibrium fluctuations among conformational substates open pathways for the ligands through the protein matrix and also narrow the rate distribution. The protein relaxations and fluctuations are nonexponential in time and non-Arrhenius in temperature, suggesting a collective nature for these protein motions. The relaxation Mb*----Mb is essentially independent of the solvent viscosity, implying that this motion involves internal parts of the protein. The protein fluctuations responsible for the opening of the pathways, however, depend strongly on the solvent viscosity, suggesting that a large part of the protein participates. While the detailed studies concern MbCO, similar data have been obtained for MbO2 and CO binding to the beta chains of human hemoglobin and hemoglobin Zurich. The results show that protein dynamics is essential for protein function and that the association coefficient for binding from the solvent at physiological temperatures in all these heme proteins is governed by the barrier at the heme.

Ligand binding and protein relaxation in heme proteins: a room temperature analysis of nitric oxide geminate recombination

Abstract: Ultrafast absorption spectroscopy is used to study heme-NO recombination at room temperature in aqueous buffer on time scales where the ligand cannot leave its cage environment. While a single barrier is observed for the cage recombination of NO with heme in the absence of globin, recombination in hemoglobin and myoglobin is nonexponential. Examination of hemoglobin with and without inositol hexaphosphate points to proximal constraints as important determinants of the geminate rebinding kinetics. Molecular dynamics simulations of myoglobin and heme-imidazole subsequent to ligand dissociation were used to investigate the transient behavior of the Fe-proximal histidine coordinate and its possible involvement in geminate recombination. The calculations, in the context of the absorption measurements, are used to formulate a distinction between nonexponential rebinding that results from multiple protein conformations (substates) present at equilibrium or from nonequilibrium relaxation of the protein triggered by a perturbation such as ligand dissociation. The importance of these two processes is expected to depend on the time scale of rebinding relative to equilibrium fluctuations and nonequilibrium relaxation. Since NO rebinding occurs on the picosecond time scale of the calculated myoglobin relaxation, a time-dependent barrier is likely to be an important factor in the observed nonexponential kinetics. The general implications of the present results for ligand binding in heme proteins and its time and temperature dependence are discussed. It appears likely that, at low temperatures, inhomogeneous protein populations play an important role and that as the temperature is raised, relaxation effects become significant as well.

Spectroscopic studies of myoglobin at low pH: heme structure and ligation

Abstract: We explore heme structure and ligation subsequent to a low-pH conformational transition in sperm whale myoglobin. Below pH 4.0, the iron-histidine bond breaks in metMb and deoxyMb. In MbCO, the majority of the iron-histidine bonds remain intact down to pH 2.6; however, the observation of a weak Fe-CO mode at 526 cm-1 indicates that a small fraction of the sample has the histidine replaced by a weak ligand, possibly water. The existence of a sterically hindered CO subpopulation in MbCO and the continued association of the four-coordinate heme with the protein in deoxyMb suggest that the heme pocket remains at least partially intact in the acid-induced conformation. The global pH-dependent conformational change described here is clearly distinguished from the local "closed" to "open" transition described previously in MbCO [Morikis et al. (1989) Biochemistry 28, 4791-4800]. Further observations of the four-coordinate heme state yield insights on the mechanism of heme photoreduction and the assignment of the 760-nm band in deoxyMb.

Influence of column temperature on the electrophoretic behavior of myoglobin and .alpha.-lactalbumin in high-performance capillary electrophoresis

Abstract: The influence of column temperature on the electrophoretic behavior of myoglobin and alpha-lactalbumin in high-performance capillary electrophoresis (HPCE) is presented. The major effect of temperature is to shorten the analysis time by decreasing the viscosity, but specific temperature effects on the protein migration behavior were also observed. Myoglobin, under high field (350 V/cm), was essentially temperature stable from 20 to 45 degrees C, but at constant current, a second form of myoglobin could be detected at both 214 and 410 nm. The initial form appeared to correspond to the Fe3+ and the second to the Fe2+ oxidation state of the heme iron. The rate of conversion from Fe3+ to the reduced Fe2+ in myoglobin, under given electrophoretic conditions, followed first-order kinetics with a rate constant at 30 degrees C of 304 s-1. A second protein, alpha-lactalbumin type III, demonstrated a conformational transition that resulted in asymmetric peaks and sigmodial mobility plots versus temperature in the transition region.

Direct observation of global protein motion in hemoglobin and myoglobin on picosecond time scales

Abstract: Picosecond phase-grating spectroscopy is highly sensitive to density changes and provides a new holographic approach to the study of protein dynamics. Photodissociation of carbon monoxide from heme proteins induces a well-defined transition from a ligated to a deoxy structure that is important to hemoglobin and myoglobin functionality. Grating spectroscopy was used to observe protein-driven density waves on a picosecond time scale after carbon monoxide dissociation. This result demonstrates that global tertiary structure changes of proteins occur on an extremely fast time scale and provides new insight into the biomechanics of deterministic protein motion.

Distal and proximal ligand interactions in heme proteins: correlations between C-O and Fe-C vibrational frequencies, oxygen-17 and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shifts, and oxygen-17 nuclear quadrupole coupling constants in C17O- and 13CO-labeled species.

Abstract: We have obtained the oxygen-17 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of a variety of C17O-labeled heme proteins, including sperm whale (Physeter catodon) myoglobin, two synthetic sperm whale myoglobin mutants (His E7----Val E7; His E7----Phe E7), adult human hemoglobin, rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) hemoglobin, horseradish (Cochlearia armoracia) peroxidase (E.C. 1.11.1.7) isoenzymes A and C, and Caldariomyces fumago chloroperoxidase (E.C. 1.11.1.10), in some cases as a function of pH, and have determined their isotropic 17O NMR chemical shifts, delta i, and spin-lattice relaxation times, T1. We have also obtained similar results on a picket fence prophyrin, [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(alpha, alpha, alpha, alpha, alpha-pivalamidophenyl)porphyrinato]iron(II) (1-MeIm)CO, both in solution and in the solid state. Our results show an excellent correlation between the infrared C-O vibrational frequencies, v(C-O), and delta i, between v(C-O) and the 17O nuclear quadrupole coupling constant (e2qQ/h, derived from T1), and as expected between e2qQ/h and delta i. Taken together with the work of others on the 13C NMR of 13CO-labeled proteins, where we find an excellent correlation between delta i(13C) and v(Fe-C), our results suggest that IR and NMR measurements reflect the same interaction, which is thought to be primarily the degree of pi-back-bonding from Fe d to CO pi* orbitals, as outlined previously [Li, X.-Y., & Spiro, T.G. (1988) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110, 6024]. The modulation of this interaction by the local charge field of the distal heme residue (histidine, glutamine, arginine, and possibly lysine) in a variety of species and mutants, as reflected in the NMR and IR measurements, is discussed, as is the effect of cysteine as the proximal heme ligand.

The formation of free radicals by cardiac myocytes under oxidative stress and the effects of electron-donating drugs.

Abstract: The interaction of myoglobin with H2O2 leads via a two-electron oxidation process to the formation of ferryl myoglobin. Metmyoglobin is more readily activated than oxymyoglobin to the ferryl states, which are capable of inducing peroxidative damage to membranes. E.p.r. and optical spectroscopic studies show that the thiol-containing compounds N-(2-mercaptopropionyl) glycine and N-acetylcysteine and the trihydroxamate desferrioxamine attenuate these processes by reducing the ferryl myoglobin species to metmyoglobin, with the formation of thiyl radicals and the desferrioxamine nitroxide radical respectively. Biochemical investigations of the potential for myoglobin in ruptured myocytes to be involved in radical generation, when under oxidative stress, and of the nature of the resulting species, were also undertaken. E.p.r. spectroscopic studies revealed the formation of a radical species which is capable of inducing membrane lipid peroxidation. The interaction of the thiol compounds and desferrioxamine with components of myocardial tissue under these conditions results in the generation of thiol-derived radical species and the desferrioxamine nitroxide radical respectively. These data, along with those obtained using optical spectrocopy, support the assignment of the identity of the radical species generated from the myocytes as the ferryl myoglobin radical.

Distal pocket polarity in ligand binding to myoglobin: structural and functional characterization of a threonine68(E11) mutant.

Abstract: Site-directed mutagenesis studies have confirmed that the distal histidine in myoglobin stabilizes bound O2 by hydrogen bonding and have suggested that it is the polar character of the imidazole side chain rather than its size that limits the rate of ligand entry into the protein. We constructed an isosteric Val68 to Thr replacement in pig myoglobin (i) to investigate whether the O2 affinity could be increased by the introduction of a second hydrogen-bonding group into the distal heme pocket and (ii) to examine the influence of polarity on the ligand binding rates more rigorously. The 1.9-A crystal structure of Thr68 aquometmyoglobin confirms that the mutant and wild-type proteins are essentially isostructural and reveals that the beta-OH group of Thr68 is in a position to form hydrogen-bonding interactions both with the coordinated water molecule and with the main chain greater than C=O of residue 64. The rate of azide binding to the ferric form of the Thr68 mutant was 60-fold lower than that for the wild-type protein, consistent with the proposed stabilization of the coordinated water molecule. However, bound O2 is destabilized in the ferrous form of the mutant protein. The observed 17-fold lowering of the O2 affinity may be a consequence of the hydrogen-bonding interaction made between the Thr68 beta-OH group and the carbonyl oxygen of residue 64. Overall association rate constants for O2, NO, and alkyl isocyanide binding to ferrous pig myoglobin were 3-10-fold lower for the mutant compared to the wild-type protein, whereas that for CO binding was little affected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Oxidative modification by low levels of HOOH can transform myoglobin to an oxidase.

Abstract: It is generally thought that the oxidative modification of hemoproteins leads to their inactivation In the current study, however, a transiently activated form of myoglobin was shown to be formed when the prosthetic heme group became covalently bound to the polypeptide during the reaction of myoglobin with low levels of HOOH In the presence of an enzymatic metmyoglobin reducing system containing diaphorase and methylene blue with excess NADH, this HOOH-altered myoglobin catalyzed NADH oxidation and oxygen consumption; the overall stoichiometry indicated a two-electron reduction of oxygen to HOOH This reaction was not catalyzed by iron released from heme, as desferrioxamine had no effect on the activity Stoichiometric amounts of HOOH were sufficient to produce the activated oxidase state of myoglobin, whereas larger amounts of HOOH lead to heme destruction, iron release, and inactivation of the oxidase activity The alteration of myoglobin to an enzyme that can form toxic oxygen metabolites may have pathological importance, especially in myocardial injury caused by ischemia and reperfusion, where myoglobin is present in large amounts and HOOH is formed Furthermore, the oxidase form may be involved in the mechanism of destruction of the heme seen with oxidative treatment of myoglobin

Contributions of residue 45(CD3) and heme-6-propionate to the bimolecular and geminate recombination reactions of myoglobin

Abstract: Overall association and dissociation rate constants were measured at 20 degrees C for O2, CO, and alkyl isocyanide binding to position 45 (CD3) mutants of pig and sperm whale myoglobins and to sperm whale myoglobin reconstituted with protoheme IX dimethyl ester. In pig myoglobin, Lys45(CD3) was replaced with Arg, His, Ser, and Glu; in sperm whale myoglobin, Arg45(CD3) was replaced with Ser and Gly. Intramolecular rebinding of NO, O2, and methyl isocyanide to Arg45, Ser45, Glu45, and Lys45(native) pig myoglobins was measured following 35-ps and 17-ns excitation pulses. The shorter, picosecond laser flash was used to examine ligand recombination from photochemically produced contact pairs, and the longer, nanosecond flash was used to measure the rebinding of ligands farther removed from the iron atom. Mutations at position 45 or esterification of the heme did not change significantly (less than or equal to 2-fold) the overall association rate constants for NO, CO, and O2 binding at room temperature. These data demonstrate unequivocally that Lys(Arg)45 makes little contribution to the outer kinetic barrier for the entry of diatomic gases into the distal pocket of myoglobin, a result that contradicts a variety of previous structural and theoretical interpretations. However, the rates of geminate recombination of NO and O2 and the affinity of myoglobin for O2 were dependent upon the basicity of residue 45. The series of substitutions Arg45, Lys45, Ser45, and Glu45 in pig myoglobin led to a 3-fold decrease in the initial rate for the intramolecular, picosecond rebinding of NO and 4-fold decrease in the geminate rate constant for the nanosecond rebinding of O2. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Protein conformational relaxation following photodissociation of CO from carbonmonoxymyoglobin: picosecond circular dichroism and absorption studies.

Abstract: Picosecond time-resolved polarization spectroscopy is used to study relaxation dynamics in myoglobin following photoelimination of CO from carbonmonoxymyoglobin Evolution of the transient circular dichroism signal of the N band of myoglobin (probed at 355 nm) to that characteristic of equilibrium myoglobin requires approximately 300 ps This time scale is significantly longer than that corresponding to the photoinitiated bond cleavage Transient linear dichroism of the Soret band and picosecond time-resolved magnetic circular dichroism measurements of the Q band demonstrate that the circular dichroism kinetics do not result from either time-dependent changes in the orientation of the transition moments of the heme ring or the doming of the heme that accompanies the out-of-plane motion of the iron Finally, transient absorption data of the near-IR optical transition of photogenerated myoglobin suggest that the circular dichroism data are not a measure of the tilting of the proximal histidine The circular dichroism data are discussed in terms of a relaxation in the tertiary structure of the protein following dissociation

Radical-induced damage to proteins: e.s.r. spin-trapping studies.

Abstract: The reactions of hydroxyl radicals generated from Fe11/H2O2 and Cu11/H2O2 redox couples with a variety of proteins (BSA, histones, cytochrome c, lysozyme and protamine) have been investigated by e.s.r. spin trapping. The signals obtained, which are generally anisotropic in nature, characterize the formation of partially-immobilized spin-adducts resulting from attack of the HO- radicals on the protein and subsequent reaction of the protein-derived radicals with the spin trap. Similar spin adducts are observed on incubation of two haem-proteins (haemoglobin and myoglobin) with H2O2 in the absence of added metal ions implying a reaction at the haem centre followed by internal electron transfer reactions.Two strategies have been employed to obtain information about the site(s) of radical damage in these proteins. The first involves the use of a variety of spin traps and in particular DMPO: with this particular trap the broad spectra from largely immobilized radicals show characteristic a(β-H) values which ena...

Evidence for proximal control of ligand specificity in hemeproteins: Absorption and Raman studies of cryogenically trapped photoproducts of ligand bound myoglobins☆

Abstract: The absorption and resonance Raman spectra of cryogenically trapped photoproducts of oxy and carboxy derivatives of myoglobin (Mb) are compared and analyzed in an attempt to understand the structural basis for ligand specificity in hemeproteins. Pulsed and cw excitations over a wide temperature range are used in order to differentiate between kinetic hole burning (KHB), optical pumping of structural relaxation, and spontaneous relaxation effects. Using these techniques, we are able to correlate changes in the absorption spectrum (band III at ≈ 760 nm) with low-frequency Raman bands. Based on these correlations we are able to determine which proximal heme pocket parameters are participating in KHB and optical pumping phenomena. Differences in the spectra of the ligand specific photoproducts have revealed differences in the populations of conformational substates (CS) that participate in the geminate recombination (process I) at cryogenic temperatures. A model is presented that relates the ligand specific spectral differences to structural and functional differences in the bound protein. What emerges is evidence that Mb and hemoglobin (Hb) can differentiate between O 2 and CO based on proximal control of the bond forming step between the ligand and the iron.

Conditions for oxygen and substrate transport in muscles in exercising mammals.

Abstract: The structural conditions relevant for metabolite exchange in anaerobic and aerobic work conditions in muscle tissue are reviewed. High-intensity non-steady-state exercise is supported by the phosphocreatine pool, which serves as a shuttle for high-energy phosphates produced by glycolysis and by aerobic metabolism. This is achieved through the intermediary of a topologically organized creatine kinase isozyme system. The muscle capillary network supplies substrate and environmental oxygen to the mitochondria. The network is quantitatively matched to the muscle oxidative capacity, determined structurally by mitochondrial volume. Capillary hematocrit, erythrocyte spacing and oxygen saturation of myoglobin are critical variables for oxygen release from microvessels. Myoglobin greatly helps intracellular oxygen transfer as, under aerobic work conditions, it keeps intracellular oxygen tension low and uniform in the muscle fibers. During sustained submaximal work, muscle cells are fueled by both endogenous (triglycerides and glycogen) and circulatory (lactate, glucose and fatty acids) substrates. A lactate shuttle in which lactate may move through the circulation, as well as directly from fiber to fiber, provides many of the carbohydrate-derived carbon skeletons for terminal oxidation. Glucose is taken up from the interstitial space by facilitated diffusion, mostly mediated by a glucose transporter (GLUT4) that is translocated from an intracellular location to the sarcolemma by activity and insulin. Extramyocellular transport of fatty acids is mediated by albumin, while fatty-acid-binding proteins are held responsible for intracellular fatty acid transport.

Migration of small molecules through the structure of hemoglobin: evidence for gating in a protein electron-transfer reaction

Abstract: It has previously been shown that the rates and activation energies for migration molecules of different sizes through myoglobin are very similar. The results were interpreted in terms of conformational changes in the protein structure that facilitate the passage of the different molecules to a similar extent. Here we ask whether the quaternary structural changes that accompany the binding of ligands (O2 or CO) to hemoglobin might influence the migration rate from the solution into the protein's binding site. As a model for the R state of hemoglobin, we used the protein in which the Fe protoporphyrin (FePP) in the alpha subunit was substituted by Zn protoporphyrin (ZnPP) and the oxidized heme was ligated by CN-. The T state of hemoglobin was represented by the protein in which all four FePP groups were substituted by ZnPP. The quenching rate of the excited ZnPP triplet state within the hemoglobin by oxygen, methyl viologen, and anthraquinonesulfonate served as a measure of the migration rate through the protein into the binding site. It was found that the activation energies for all three quenchers were very similar and closely resembled those in myoglobin, suggesting that the migration rates are determined by the subunit structure only and that the quaternary configurational changes do not influence the quenching rates. The implications of the results for electron transfer in proteins are briefly discussed.

Lipid peroxidation of muscle food: the role of the cytosolic fraction

Abstract: The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the cytosolic extract (soluble fraction) on lipid peroxidation of the water-extracted muscle residue (insoluble fraction) stimulated by H 2 O 2 -activated myoglobin and iron ion dependent enzymatic and non enzymatic reactions

Resonant recognition model and protein topography. Model studies with myoglobin, hemoglobin and lysozyme.

Abstract: This study describes the further extension of the resonant recognition model for the analysis and prediction of protein – protein and protein – DNA structure/function dependencies. The model is based on the significant correlation between spectra of numerical presentations of the amino acid or nucleotide sequences of proteins and their coded biological activity. According to this physico-mathematical method, it is possible to define amino acids in the sequence which are predicted to be the most critical for protein function. Using sperm whale myoglobin, human hemoglobin and hen egg white lysozyme as model protein examples, sets of predicted amino acids, or so-called ‘hot spots’, have been identified within the tertiary structure. It was found for each protein that the predicted ‘hot spots’, which are distributed along the primary sequence, are spatially grouped in a dome-like arrangement over the active site. The identified amino acids did not correspond to the amino acid residues which are involved in the chemical reaction site of these proteins. It is thus proposed that the resonant recognition model helps to identify amino acid residues which are important for the creation of the molecular structure around the catalytic active site and also the associated physical field conditions required for biorecognition, docking of the specific substrate and full biological activity.

Expression in Escherichia coli of a synthetic gene coding for horse heart myoglobin.

Abstract: A gene for expression of horse heart myoglobin in Escherichia coli has been constructed in one step from long synthetic oligonucleotides. The synthetic gene contains an efficient translation initiation signal and used codons that are commonly found in E. coli. Unique restriction sites are placed throughout the gene. It has been inserted in a phagemid vector and is expressed from the lac promoter in E. coli at high efficiency, the soluble heme protein representing approximately 10% of soluble protein. Two versions of horse heart myoglobin were produced with aspartic acid or asparagine at residue 122. Comparison of chromatographic mobilities of these two proteins with authentic horse heart myoglobin identified aspartic acid as the correct residue 122. The availability of this gene, which is designed to facilitate oligonucleotide mutagenesis or cassette mutagenesis, will allow systematic structure-function analysis of horse heart myoglobin.

Solid-State Oxygen-17 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Studies of [17O2] Picket Fence Porphyrin, Myoglobin, and Hemoglobin

Abstract: We have studied a model compound for oxyhemoglobin and oxymyoglobin, the iron-dioxygen complex of \"picket fence porphyrin\" (5,10,15,20-tetrakis(a,a,a,~-~pivalamidophenyl)porphyrinato)iron (11) (( 1-MeIm)O,), as well as oxymyoglobin and oxyhemoglobin themselves, by using 170 solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. For the model picket fence porphyrin, the principal components of the chemical shift tensors for both bridging and terminal oxygens in the Fe-0, unit have been determined, and the isotropic chemical shifts occur at 1200-1600 and 2000 ppm, respectively, somewhat deshielded from the 1750 and -2500 ppm values found by Gerothanassis et al. in solution (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, I l l , 7006-7012). The anisotropies of the shift tensors are very large for both oxygens (A8 = -2200 ppm for the bridging oxygen and A6 = 3350 ppm for the terminal oxygen, at 77 K). From partial averaging of the shift tensors at room temperature, due to fast axial rotation of the dioxygen ligand, an Fe-O-O bond angle of 140' has been derived for the model system. Temperature dependence studies indicate essentially no change in the isotropic chemical shift of the terminal oxygen down to 4.2 K, while there is an apparent low-frequency shift of the bridging oxygen on cooling to 77 K, possibly due to the freezing in of one conformational substate. Spectra of oxymyoglobin and oxyhemoglobin, at 77 K, are very similar to those of the model compound at low temperature. Our results indicate that the 170 nuclear quadrupole coupling constants must be relatively small for both oxygens ( 5 5 MHz) in all systems, much smaller than the 8.5and 20-MHz values found for ozone, suggesting extensive *-delocalization in the Fe-0-0 fragment. Our results are also consistent with an overwhelmingly spin paired configuration, both in the model system, and in oxyhemoglobin and oxymyoglobin themselves.

Myoglobin function and energy metabolism of isolated cardiac myocytes: effect of sodium nitrite

Abstract: Inactivation of intracellular myoglobin by sodium nitrite or by carbon monoxide in isolated cardiac myocytes diminishes steady-state respiratory rate and phosphocreatine concentration (PCr) by approximately 25% at nonlimiting oxygen pressures; oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis together are insufficient to maintain ATP, and PCr falls. At concentrations required to convert myoglobin to high-spin ferric myoglobin, nitrite does not affect the respiration of isolated aerobic heart mitochondria. The creatine phosphokinase-catalyzed equilibrium between PCr and ATP is not affected by nitrite. Myoglobin inactivation reduces PCr in cells in which glycolytic ATP production is blocked by iodoacetate. However, inhibition of electron transport by rotenone does block myoglobin-mediated oxygen uptake. These data suggest that functional myoglobin augments mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation [myoglobin-mediated oxidative phosphorylation (30)]. Myoglobin itself does not cross mitochondrial membrane(s). At high oxygen pressures used here, myoglobin is everywhere saturated with oxygen, and facilitated oxygen diffusion vanishes. Oxidative phosphorylation must be augmented by some effector, such as NADH or a carrier of reducing or oxidizing equivalents that can transduce the effect of oxymyoglobin across the mitochondrial membrane(s).