J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 263, Issue 35, 18627-18634, 12, 1988
ATP synthase complex from beef heart mitochondria. Role of the thiol group of the 25-kDa subunit of Fo in the coupling mechanism between Fo and F1
G Lippe, F Dabbeni Sala and MC Sorgato
Dipartimento di Chimica Biologica, Universita di Padova, Italy.
In order to assess the role of thiol groups in the Fo part of the ATP
synthase in the coupling mechanism of ATP synthase, we have treated
isolated Fo, extracted from beef heart Complex V with urea, with thiol
reagents, primarily with diazenedicarboxylic acid bis-(dimethylamide)
(diamide) but also with Cd2+ and N-ethylmaleimide. FoF1 ATP synthase was
reconstituted by adding isolated F1 and the oligomycin-sensitivity-
conferring-protein (OSCP) to Fo. The efficiency of reconstitution was
assessed by determining the sensitivity to oligomycin of the ATP hydrolytic
activity of the reconstituted enzyme. Contrary to Cd2+, incubation of
diamide with Fo, before the addition of F1 and OSCP, induced a severe loss
of oligomycin sensitivity, due to an inhibited binding of F1 to Fo. This
effect was reversed by dithiothreitol. Conversely, if F1 and OSCP were
added to Fo before diamide, no effect could be detected. These results show
that F1 (and/or OSCP) protects Fo thiols from diamide and are substantiated
by the finding that the oligomycin sensitivity of ATP hydrolysis activity
of isolated Complex V was also unaltered by diamide. Gel electrophoresis of
FoF1 ATP synthase, reconstituted with diamide-treated Fo, revealed that the
loss of oligomycin sensitivity was directly correlated with diminution of
band Fo 1 (or subunit b). Concomitantly a band appeared of approximately
twice the molecular weight of subunit Fo 1. As this protein contains only 1
cysteine residue (Walker, J. E., Runswick, M. J., and Poulter, L. (1987) J.
Mol. Biol. 197, 89-100), the effect of diamide is attributed to the
formation of a disulfide bridge between two of these subunits. These
results offer further evidence for the proposal, based on aminoacid
sequence and structural analysis, that subunit Fo 1 of mammalian Fo is
involved in the binding with F1 (Walker et al. (1987]. N-Ethylmaleimide
affects oligomycin sensitivity to a lesser extent than diamide, suggesting
that the mode of action of these reagents (and the structural changes
induced in Fo) is different.