Investigation on the conformation change of hemoglobin immobilized on MPA-modified electrode by electrochemical method.

The conformation change of bovine hemoglobin (Hb) during the unfolding process induced by urea and acid was investigated by an electrochemical method. Hb unfolding induced by urea of different concentrations was realized by bonding Hb onto a 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) modified gold electrode. The difference in unfolding percentage showed that the Hb unfolding induced by urea was a two-step, three-state transition process, while the unfolding induced by acid was a two-state transition process. The results obtained by the electrochemical method coincided closely with those obtained by UV-vis spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. Some thermodynamic parameters during the conformational change were also calculated to study the intermediate state during the Hb unfolding process. The present work may lead to an easy and effective way to study metalloproteins unfolding, and holds great promise for the design of novel sensitive biosensors.