Mechanism of ATP synthesis and coupled proton transport: studies with purified chloroplast coupling factor

ATP synthesis catalyzed by the mitochondrial F1-F0 ATP synthase is not a reversal of its ATPase activity

The ADP(Mg2+)-deactivated oligomycin-sensitive F1-F0 ATPase of coupled submitochondrial particles treated with the substoichiometric amount of oligomycin was studied to test whether ATP synthesis and hydrolysis proceed in either direction through the same intermediates. The initial rates of ATP hydrolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, ATP-dependent, succinate-supported NAD+ reduction, and ATP-induced delta microH+ generation were measured using deactivated ATPase trapped by azide [Biochem. J. (1982) 202, 15-23]. Three ATP consuming reactions were strongly inhibited when azide was present in the assay mixtures, whereas ATP synthesis was not altered by azide. The unidirectional effect of azide is not consistent with three alternating binding sites mechanism operating in ATP synthesis and support our hypothesis on the existence of nucleotide(Mg2+)-controlled 'synthase' and 'hydrolase' states of the mitochondrial F1-F0 ATPase.

Photoaffinity cross-linking of F1ATPase from spinach chloroplasts by 3'-arylazido-beta-alanyl-8-azido ATP

UV irradiation of the ATPase (CF1) from spinach chloroplasts in the presence of 3'-arylazido-beta-alanyl-8-azido ATP (8,3'-DiN3ATP) results in a nucleotide-dependent inactivation of the enzyme and in a nucleotide-dependent formation of alpha-beta cross-links. The results demonstrate an interfacial localization of the nucleotide binding sites on CF1.

Nucleotide/H(+)-dependent change in Mg2+ affinity at the ATPase inhibitory site of the mitochondrial F1-F0 ATP synthase

The interactions between ADP and Mg2+ that result in the slowly reversible inhibition of the mitochondrial F1-F0 ATPase were studied. The Ki for the inhibitory Mg2+ is shown to be strongly dependent on the occupation of the nucleotide-binding sites. The inhibitory binding site for Mg2+ is not seen unless a stoichiometric amount of ADP is added [Biochem. J. 276 (1991) 149-156]; it appears (Ki = 2.10(-6) M) in the presence of stoichiometric ADP and the affinity for inhibitory Mg2+ decreases to a Ki value of 7.10(-5) M when the second nucleotide binding site with Kd = 5.10(-6) M is loaded with ADP. The binding of the inhibitory Mg2+ is competitively inhibited by H+ ions within the pH interval 6.8-8.2. The nucleotide-dependent affinity transition of the Mg(2+)-specific site suggests that H+/Mg2+ exchange may play an important role in the catalytic mechanism of ATP synthesis/hydrolysis at the active site(s) of F1-F0 ATP synthase.

Determination of the roles of active sites in F1-ATPase by controlled affinity labeling

The affinity reagents 3'-O-(5-fluoro-2,4-dinitrophenyl) [alpha-32P]ATP (FDNP-[alpha-32P]ATP) and 3'-O-(5-fluoro-2,4-dinitrophenyl) [8-14C]ATP (FDNP-[14C]ATP) were synthesized and used to characterize the structure and function of the three active sites in F1-ATPase. FDNP-[alpha-32P]ATP was found to bind covalently to F1 up to two DNP-[alpha-32P]ATP labels per F1 in the absence of Mg2+ without decreasing the ATPase activity. However, when MgCl2 was subsequently added to the reaction mixture, the enzyme could be further labeled with concomitant decrease in ATPase activity that is consistent with the complete inactivation of one enzyme molecule by an affinity label at the third ATP-binding site. Partial hydrolysis of the FDNP-[14C]ATP-labeled enzyme and sequencing of the isolated peptide indicated that the affinity label was attached to Lys-beta 301 at all three active sites. Samples of F1 with covalent affinity label on Lys-beta 301 were also used to reconstitute F1-deficient submitochondrial particles. The reconstituted particles were assayed for ATPase and oxidative phosphorylation activities. These results show that the catalytic hydrolysis of ATP either by F1 in solution or by F0F1 complex attached to inner mitochondrial membrane takes place essentially at only one active site, but is promoted by the binding of ATP at the other two active sites, and that ATP synthesis during oxidative phosphorylation takes place at all three active sites [corrected].

The number of functional catalytic sites on F1-ATPases and the effects of quaternary structural asymmetry on their properties

Recent structural and kinetic studies of F1 and F0F1 are reviewed with regard to their implications for the binding change mechanism for ATP synthesis by oxidative phosphorylation and photophosphorylation. It is concluded that at least two and probably all three of the catalytic sites on F1 are functionally equivalent despite permanent structural asymmetry in the soluble enzyme. A rotary mechanism in which all three catalytic subunits experience all possible interactions with the single-copy subunits during turnover is thought not to apply to soluble F1 but remains an attractive model for the membrane bound enzyme.

Role of phosphate on the ADP-induced hysteretic inhibition of mitochondrial adenosine 5'-triphosphatase. Effects of the natural protein inhibitor

Preincubation of F1-ATPase with ADP and Mg2+ leads to ADP binding at regulatory site inducing a hysteretic inhibition of ATP hydrolysis, i.e., an inhibition that slowly develops after Mg-ATP addition (Di Pietro, A., Penin, F., Godinot, C. and Gautheron, D.C. (1980) Biochemistry 19, 5671-5678). It is shown here that inorganic phosphate (Pi) together with ADP during preincubation abolishes the time-dependence of the inhibition after the addition of the substrate Mg-ATP. This preincubation in the presence of both Pi and ADP slowly leads to a conformation of the enzyme immediately inhibited after the addition of the substrate Mg-ATP. The Pi effect is half-maximal at 35 microM and pH 6.6, whereas a limited effect is induced at pH 8.0. The preincubation of F1-ATPase with Pi and ADP must last long enough (t1/2 = 5 min). The effects can be correlated to the amount of Pi bound to the enzyme, 1 mol Pi per mol (apparent KD of 33 microM) at saturation. Pi neither modifies the ADP binding nor the final level of the concomitant inhibition. When Pi is not present in the preincubation, the final stable rate of ADP-induced hysteretic inhibition is always reached when a near-constant amount of Pi has been generated during Mg-ATP hydrolysis. Kinetic experiments indicate that preincubation with ADP and Pi decreases both Vmax and Km which would favor a conformational change of the enzyme. Taking into account the Pi effects, a more precise model of hysteretic inhibition is proposed. The natural protein inhibitor IF1 efficiently prevents the binding of Pi produced by ATP hydrolysis indicating that the hysteretic inhibition and the IF1-dependent inhibition obey different mechanisms.