Mitochondrial ATPase

Photoaffinity labeling with 2-azidoadenosine diphosphate of a tight nucleotide binding site on chloroplast coupling factor 1

An analog of ADP containing an azido group at the C-2 position of the purine ring has been synthesized and used as an affinity probe of the membrane-bound coupling factor 1 of spinach chloroplast thylakoid membranes. The 2-azido-ADP inhibited light-induced dark binding of ADP at the tight nucleotide binding site on the thylakoid membranes. The 2-azido-ADP itself bound tightly to the thylakoid membranes, with 1 muM as the concentration giving 50% maximum binding. Tight binding of the analog required the thylakoid membranes to be energized, and the nucleotide remained bound after repeated washings of the membranes. The maximum extent of tight binding of the analog (1,2-1.3 nmol/mg of chlorophyll) was stoichiometric with the known coupling factor 1 content of thylakoid membranes but somewhat higher than that observed for ADP (0.5-0.9 nmol per mg of chlorophyll). Tight binding of 2-azido-ADP was decreased by the simultaneous addition of ADP. UV photolysis of washed thylakoid membranes containing tightly-bound 2-azido-[beta-(32)P]ADP resulted in the covalent incorporation of label into the membranes. Isolation of the chloroplast coupling factor 1 from these membranes followed by NaDodSO(4) gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the analog was covalently bound to the beta subunit of the coupling factor complex.

Trypanosoma brucei: differential requirement of membrane potential for import of proteins into mitochondria in two developmental stages

Trypanosome alternative oxidase (TAO) and the cytochrome oxidase (COX) are two developmentally regulated terminal oxidases of the mitochondrial electron transport chain in Trypanosoma brucei. Here, we have compared the import of TAO and cytochrome oxidase subunit IV (COIV), two stage-specific nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins, into the bloodstream and procyclic form mitochondria of T. brucei to understand the import processes in two different developmental stages. Under in vitro conditions TAO and COIV were imported and processed into isolated mitochondria from both the bloodstream and procyclic forms. With mitochondria isolated from the procyclic form, the import of TAO and COIV was dependent on the mitochondrial inner membrane potential (delta psi) and required protein(s) on the outer membrane. Import of these proteins also depended on the presence of both internal and external ATP. However, import of TAO and COIV into isolated mitochondria from the bloodstream form was not inhibited after the mitochondrial delta psi was dissipated by valinomycin, CCCP, or valinomycin and oligomycin in combination. In contrast, import of these proteins into bloodstream mitochondria was abolished after the hydrolysis of ATP by apyrase or removal of the ATP and ATP-generating system, suggesting that import is dependent on the presence of external ATP. Together, these data suggest that nuclear encoded proteins such as TAO and COIV are imported in the mitochondria of the bloodstream and the procyclic forms via different mechanism. Differential import conditions of nuclear encoded mitochondrial proteins of T. brucei possibly help it to adapt to different life forms.

Effects of inhibitors of ion-motive ATPases on the plasma membrane potential of murine erythroleukemia cells

The membrane electric effects of N,N'-dicyclohexyl-carbodiimide (DCCD) and vanadate were studied in murine erythroleukemia cells (MELC), comparing the patch-clamp technique and the accumulation ratio (ARexp) of [3H]-tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP+). Electrophysiological measurements showed that both these inhibitors produce, at micromolar concentrations, a 20-30 mV hyperpolarization of resting potential (delta psi p) of MELC, which is abolished when the electrochemical equilibrium potential of K+ (EK) is brought close to zero. DCCD and vanadate turned out to have distinct targets on the plasma membrane of MELC (an H+ pump and the Na+,K(+)-ATPase, respectively). Measurements of ARexp showed that: (i) patch-clamp measurements of delta psi p were equivalent to those based on ARexp of antimycin-pretreated cells (ARANT); (ii) DCCD produced a strong increase in ARANT, that was antagonized by carbonyl cyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenyl-hydrazone (FCCP) and diethylstilbestrol (DES); (iii) vanadate determined a marked increase in ARANT that was insensitive to FCCP, but antagonized by ouabain; (iv) incubation in high K+ medium (HK) brought ARANT to 1.0 in the controls, but did not lower this ratio below 3.0 in the presence of DCCD or vanadate; (v) the total amount of TPP+ taken up by the cells was in any case water extractable by a freezing and thawing procedure. On the whole, our data indicate that DCCD and vanadate hyperpolarize the MELC by increasing the K+ conductance and, at the same time, enhance the TPP+ binding, probably by changing the electrostatic potential profile of the plasma membrane. These effects seem to involve functional modifications of the target pumps, apparently related to the ion-occluding state of these enzymes.

Mechanism of inhibition of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and oligomycin: relationship to ATP synthesis

Measurement of the rate of [gamma-32P]ATP binding (k1) and release (k-1) from catalytic sites on submitochondrial particles permitted calculation of the affinity constant in catalytic sites (k1 = K1/k1-1) of 10(12) M-1. This value is the same as that determined previously for the solubilized ATPase (F1) from beef heart mitochondria. Treatment of submitochondrial particles with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide or oligomycin so as to cause about 90% inhibition of ATPase activity was accompanied by a decrease in the binding of [gamma-32P]ATP in high-affinity catalytic sites. Under the conditions of the experiment, it is expected that the inhibitors reacted not with the ATPase itself but with other proteins in the oligomycin-sensitive ATPase complex (F0-F1). It is proposed that dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and oligomycin inhibit ATPase activity by causing a conformational change in the F0 portion of the complex that is transmitted to F1, resulting in an impaired binding of substrate in catalytic sites. These observations of apparent conformational interactions between F0 and F1 on the mitochondrial membrane are relevant to the mechanism of the coupling device that links the energy store to ATP formation in oxidative phosphorylation. It is proposed that a change in the state of ionization of one or more charged amino acid residues in F0 results in a conformational change in F0 which, transmitted to F1, reversibly alters the catalytic sites and facilitates the release of product ATP.

Purification of F1-ATPase from cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum) mitochondria. A comparison of subunit composition with that of rat liver F1-ATPase

Plant mitochondrial ATPase has been chloroform-solubilized and purified by gel filtration from spadices of cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum). The subunit composition of purified plant and rat liver ATPase were compared by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. The delta- and epsilon-subunits of the plant enzyme are larger than their supposed rat liver counterparts and, as such, A. maculatum mitochondrial ATPase shows structural homologies with the enzyme from Escherichia coli [Futai, Sternweis & Heppel (1974) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71, 2725-2729] rather than with the rat liver enzyme.

A kinetic study of the interaction between mitochondrial F1 adenosine triphosphatase and adenylyl imidodiphosphate and guanylyl imidodiphosphate

1. The presence of 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate, a non-hydrolysable analogue of ATP, in the solution used to assay the soluble bovine heart mitochondrial F1-ATPase produced slow competitive inhibition. If the enzyme was preincubated with the inhibitor before the substrate, MgATP, was added, a partial re-activation was obtained. 2. The slow inhibitory process showed first-order rate kinetics, and therefore it seems likely that a conformational change of the enzyme occurs following a faster binding process. A reaction scheme is suggested. At pH 7.8 the rate constant for the inhibition reaction was calculated to be 6.7 X 10(-2)s-1 and that for the re-activation 3.8 X 10(-3)s-1, with Keq. 17.6, indicating that the inhibited enzyme-inhibitor complex will be favoured over the non-inhibited enzyme-inhibitor complex. 3. The presence of 5'-guanylyl imidodiphosphate in the solution used to assay F1-ATPase produced rapid competitive inhibition, which was then slowly reversed until a steady state was reached. This might be explained by a rapid but reversible shift of the inhibition pathway induced by this non-hydrolysable analogue of ATP. A complex rate constant for the displacement of the inhibitor by the substrate of 7.6 X 10(-3)s-1 was calculated. 4. The results are discussed in the light of other recent observations about binding of 5'-adenylyl imidodiphosphate to F1-ATPase and with reference to the binding-site-change mechanism of hydrolysis of ATP by F1-ATPase.

Unifying concept for the coupling between ion pumping and ATP hydrolysis or synthesis

A mechanism is proposed for the coupling between ion transport and enzyme catalysis. The basic concept is that enzymes associated with transport exist in two possible conformations. Each conformation has the potential of catalyzing the enzymatic reaction, and pumping is associated with the conversion of one conformational form to the other. The conformational transition is triggered by the kinetic blockage of specific mechanistic steps for each conformation. Such blockages can cause a cycling between the two conformations concomitant with catalysis. This mechanistic concept is consistent with a variety of results obtained with the Na+,K+-ATPase, the Ca2+,Mg2+-ATPase, and ATP synthesizing enzymes (coupling factors).

Identification of mitochondrial proteins and some of their precursors in two-dimensional electrophoretic maps of human cells

A set of at least 30 proteins disappears from the two-dimensional electrophoretic pattern of human lymphoid cells treated with various antimitochondrial agents. This set is similar to the set of proteins found in isolated mitochondria (except for the presence of action in the latter group), indicating that the inhibitor effect stops production of a majority of mature mitochondrial proteins. Several proteins having the characteristics of precursors to the major cytoplasmically synthesized mitochondrial proteins can be observed in cells during fast-pulse experiments and in a reticulocyte lysate system fed with total lymphoid cell RNA. In the three major instances of mitochondrial precursor--product processing, the removed peptide is quite basic in each case, suggesting that a lysine- or arginine-rich terminal sequence may be necessary for initial recognition by the mitochondrial protein uptake apparatus. The inhibitor effect allows easy identification of a large set of mitochondrial proteins in two-dimensional maps of various cells, thereby specifying a particularly tractable and functionally distinctive subset of the cellular proteins. The nature and wide scope of the effect support the concept of energy-dependent "vectorial processing" [Schatz, G. (1979) FEBS Lett. 103, 203--211] and indicate that such a mechanism is generally applicable to the major class of cytoplasmically synthesized mitochondrial proteins in mammalian cells.

Subcellular localization and properties of rat liver adenosine diphosphatase

ADPase (adenosine diphosphatase) was assayed in rat liver homogenates with [beta-32P]ADP as substrate. The activity had a pH optimum of 8.0 and was strongly activated by Mg2+. The intracellular localization was determined by analytical subcellular fractionation with single-step sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation. Selective membrane perturbants were used to enhance the resolution of the various organelles. ADPase was localized to the mitochondria. Mitochondria were isolated by differential centrifugation and subfractionated by selective disruption of the inner and outer membranes. The intramitochondrial localization of ADPase was compared with various marker enzymes and was shown to be concentrated in the outer-membrane fractions. The effects of various inhibitors on the ADPase activity were determined and the possibility that the activity could be due to known enzyme systems was considered. It is concluded that ADP degradation is due to a hitherto unrecognized mitochondrial enzyme.