Hemoglobin-albumin crosslinked copolymers: reduced prooxidant reactivity.

We have previously reported that derivatization of hemoglobin with periodate-modified sugar derivatives such as oxidized adenosine triphosphate (oATP) leads to an increase in prooxidant reactivity at the heme. Here, we report that copolymerization of hemoglobin with serum albumin alleviates this problem completely, to the extent where the copolymer even has a slightly lower autooxidation rate compared to native hemoglobin. A similar, although not as potent, effect is obtained when hemoglobin is derivatized with oATP in the presence of small-molecule antioxidants instead of albumin.