Structural and functional regulations by a disulfide bond designed in myoglobin like human neuroglobin.

An artificial disulfide bond (Cys46-Cys61) was designed in the heme distal site of myoglobin, which regulates the conformation of the heme distal His64 and the protein reactivity, as confirmed by X-ray crystallography, EPR, and kinetic UV-vis studies. This study shows the successful design of a disulfide bond with suitable positions in globins, conferring a structure and function like those of the native human neuroglobin.