Insights into Nitrosoalkane Binding to Myoglobin Provided by Crystallography of Wild-Type and Distal Pocket Mutant Derivatives.

Nitrosoalkanes (R-N═O; R = alkyl) are biological intermediates that form from the oxidative metabolism of various amine (RNH) drugs or from the reduction of nitroorganics (RNO). RNO compounds bind to and inhibit various heme proteins. However, structural information on the resulting Fe-RNO moieties remains limited.