Purified proton conductor in proton translocating adenosine triphosphatase of a thermophilic bacterium.

1. The membrane-integrated portion (TF0) of the proton translocating ATPase complex (TF0-F1) of the thermophilic bacterium PS3 was highly purified. Its proton-conducting activity was investigated in vesicles reconstituted from TF0 and phospholipids (TF0 vesicles). 2. The rate of proton conduction through TF0 was proportional to the membrane potential imposed (6H+ uptake/s/TF0 molecule with 103 mV at pH 8.0). The pH profile of the rate revealed that a proton, not a hydroxy ion, was the true substrate conducted and that there was a monoprotic proton binding site in TF0 (pKa = 6.8). The temperature coefficient of proton conductance of TF0 showed a considerable variation depending on the phospholipids of the vesicles with respective transition temperatures. 3. Passive proton conduction through TF0 was inhibited stoichiometrically by addition of either the soluble ATPase portion (TF1) of TF0-F1, or an energy transfer inhibitor dicyclohexylcarbodiimide or an antibody against TF0. 4. The proton conductance of TF0 was concluded to represent its intrinsic activity in the original TF0-F1 complex.     

Transient accumulation of elastic energy in proton translocating ATP synthase

ATP synthase is conceived as a rotatory engine with two reversible drives, the proton-transporting membrane portion, F0, and the catalytic peripheral portion, F1. They are mounted on a central shaft (subunit gamma) and held together by an eccentric bearing. It is established that the hydrolysis of three molecules of ATP in F1 drives the shaft over a full circle in three steps of 120 degrees each. Proton flow through F0 probably generates a 12-stepped rotation of the shaft so that four proton-translocating steps of 30 degrees each drive the synthesis of one molecule of ATP. We addressed the elasticity of the transmission between F0 and F1 in a model where the four smaller steps in F0 load a torsional spring which is only released under liberation of ATP from F1. The kinetic model of an elastic ATP synthase described a wealth of published data on the synthesis/hydrolysis of ATP by F0F1 and on proton conduction by F0 as function of the pH and the protonmotive force. The pK values of the proton-carrying group interacting with the acidic and basic sides of the membrane were estimated as 5.3-6.4 and 8.0-8.3, respectively.     

Isolation and reconstitution of the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-sensitive proton pore of the clathrin-coated vesicle proton translocating complex

The clathrin-coated vesicle proton translocating complex is composed of a maximum of eight polypeptides. The function of the components of this system have not been defined. Proton pumping catalyzed by the reconstituted, 200-fold purified proton translocating complex of clathrin-coated vesicles is inhibited 50% at a dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD)/protein ratio of 0.66 mumol of DCCD/mg of protein. At an identical DCCD/protein ratio, the 17-kDa component of the proton pump is labeled by [14C]DCCD. Through toluene extraction, the 17-kDa subunit has been isolated from the holoenzyme. The 17-kDa polypeptide diminished proteoliposome acidification when coreconstituted with either bacteriorhodopsin or the intact clathrin-coated vesicle proton translocating ATPase. In both instances, treatment of the 17-kDa polypeptide with DCCD restored proteoliposome acidification. Moreover, the proton-conducting activity of the 17-kDa polypeptide is abolished by trypsin digestion. These results demonstrate that the 17-kDa polypeptide present in the isolated proton ATPase of clathrin-coated vesicles is a subunit which functions as a transmembranous proton pore.     

Isolation and reconstitution of the clathrin-coated vesicle proton translocating complex

Clathrin-coated vesicles contain a proton translocating ATPase which is insensitive to azide but inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide. The ATP hydrolytic subunit of this proton pump has been solubilized, partially purified, and reconstituted into H+-ATPase-depleted coated vesicle membranes (Xie, X.-S., Stone, D.K., and Racker, E. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 11676-11678). In this communication we report that the entire proton transporting complex has been solubilized and purified 200-fold. The complex, when reconstituted into brain lipid liposomes, catalyzes azide-resistant, N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive H+ transport manifested as both generation of a pH gradient and an electrical gradient. The complex has an apparent molecular mass of 530 kDa.     

Auxin regulation of a proton translocating ATPase in pea root plasma membrane vesicles

Pea root microsomal vesicles have been fractionated on a Dextran step gradient to give three fractions, each of which carries out ATP-dependent proton accumulation as measured by fluorescence quenching of quinacrine. The fraction at the 4/6% Dextran interface is enriched in plasma membrane, as determined by UDPG sterol glucosyltransferase and vanadate-inhibited ATPase. The vanadate-sensitive phosphohydrolase is not specific for ATP, has a K_m of about 0.23 millimolar for MgATP, is only slightly affected by K⁺ or Cl⁻ and is insensitive to auxin. Proton transport, on the other hand, is more specific for ATP, enhanced by anions (NO₃⁻ > Cl⁻) and has a K_m of about 0.7 millimolar. Auxins decrease the K_m to about 0.35 millimolar, with no significant effect on the V_max, while antiauxins or weak acids have no such effect. It appears that auxin has the ability to alter the efficiency of the ATP-driven proton transport.     

Characterization of an electrogenic ATP and chloride-dependent proton translocating pump from rat renal medulla

To study acidification mechanisms in the distal nephron, microsomes were prepared from rat renal medulla by differential centrifugation. Microsomes were enriched in the enzyme marker gamma-glutamyl transferase and contained an ATP-dependent proton pump, as evidenced by ATP-dependent, 3,3',4',5-tetrachlorosalicylanilide-reversible quenching of acridine orange fluorescence. Acidification was vanadate-insensitive, but was completely inhibited by micromolar N-ethylmaleimide. Maximal acidification was achieved in the presence of halide (Cl-, Br-) only and was not attainable with potassium-valinomycin diffusion potentials without halide ion. Microsomal ATPase activity was neither chloride- nor N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive. A chloride conductance was observed only with vesicles which had undergone ATP-dependent acidification. An ATP-dependent, N-ethylmaleimide-inhibitable, 3,3',4',5-tetrachlorosalicylanilide-reversible, and chloride-attenuated quench of bis(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid-(5] pentamethinoxonol fluorescence was seen, consistent with net transfer of positive charge into the vesicles. Nonetheless, positive intravesicular potentials increased the ATP-dependent initial acidification rate, perhaps by increasing availability of chloride ion to the transport site. Our results are consistent with an electrogenic, ATP-dependent proton pump regulated by a voltage-sensitive chloride site.     

Purification and characterization of the proton translocating plasma membrane ATPase of red beet storage tissue

Plasma membranes were prepared from red beet (Beta vulgaris L.) storage tissue by partition in an aqueous two-phase system. A highly active proton-translocating ATPase was purified from these membranes by lysophosphatidylcholine extraction and glycerol density gradient centrifugation. The ATPase activity was inhibited by vanadate or dicyclohexyl carbodiimide, but was insensitive to azide, nitrate and molybdate at concentrations which inhibit the F1ATPase, the tonoplast ATPase, and acid phosphatase. Inhibition by vanadate was consistent with a non-competitive mechanism, with Ki = 10 microM. The Km for Mg-ATP was about 1 mM, magnesium ions were required, and the activity was stimulated by KCl and by lysophosphatidylcholine. The optimal pH was 6.5. The molecular mass by gel filtration in the presence of 2 g/liter octyl glucoside was 600 kDa, while dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis gave a polypeptide molecular mass of 100 kDa. After blotting onto nitrocellulose, the purified enzyme did not bind concanavalin A, although a concanavalin A-binding peptide of the plasma membrane runs to nearly the same position on the gel and showed some tendency to co-purify with the ATPase. Phospholipid vesicles into which the purified ATPase had been incorporated by the freeze-thaw technique showed vanadate-sensitive, ATP-dependent proton uptake. When the ATPase was reconstituted into lipid membranes at high protein to lipid ratios and incubated with ATP, two-dimensionally crystalline arrays of protein molecules were formed.     

Reconstitution of the proton translocating ATPase from bovine heart mitochondria into planar phospholipid bilayer membranes

Proton translocating ATPase (F0F1) from bovine heart mitochondria was reconstituted into planar phospholipid bilayers, and its electrogenicity was directly demonstrated. The F0F1 ATPase was solubilized using 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonic acid (CHAPS) as a detergent followed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation according to the method originally described by McEnery et al. for rat liver mitochondria (McEnery et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 4642-4651), with minor modifications. The purified ATPase was reconstituted into proteoliposomes and then reconstituted into planar phospholipid bilayers by the modified fusion method (Hirata et al. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 9839-9843). A short-circuit current of up to 0.4 pA was induced by adding ATP, and this current was suppressed by the F1 ATPase inhibitor NaN3 or by a specific mitochondrial F0 inhibitor, oligomycin. The direction of the current corresponded to the flow of positive charges from the F1 side to the F0 side. All these facts clearly demonstrate that the mitochondrial F0F1 ATPase was successfully reconstituted into planar phospholipid bilayers, and the current was generated by the ATPase.     

Studies on the mechanism of action of local anesthetics on proton translocating ATPase from Mycobacterium phlei

We have measured the inhibitory potencies of local anesthetics (procaine, lidocaine, tetracaine and dibucaine) on ATP-mediated H+-translocation, Ca2+-transport and ATPase activity in membrane vesicles from Mycobacterium phlei. Procaine and lidocaine up to 1 mM concentration did not inhibit ATP-dependent H+-translocation, Ca2+-transport and ATPase activity. However, tetracaine and dibucaine at 0.2 mM concentration caused dissipation of the proton gradient, measured by the reversal of the quenching of fluorescence of quinacrine, and inhibition of active Ca2+-transport. Tetracaine (1 mM) inhibited membrane-bound ATPase activity without affecting solubilized F1-ATPase activity. Studies show that these local anesthetics do not prevent the inactivation of F0-F1 ATPase by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD). Binding of [14C]DCCD to F0-proteolipid component remained unchanged in the presence of tetracaine indicating that DCCD and tetracaine do not share common binding sites on the F0-proteolipid sector. The inhibition of H+-translocation and membrane-bound ATPase activity by tetracaine was substantially additive in the presence of vanadate.     

Characterization of a proton translocating ATPase and sucrose uptake in a tonoplast-enriched vesicle fraction from sugarcane

A sucrose gradient fraction was used to characterize the tonoplast ATPase from storage tissue of the sugarcane plant ( Saccharum sp. var. H57–5175). Marker enzyme analyses and characterization of low-density vesicles isolated on a sucrose gradient were consistent with a highly enriched tonoplast fraction. ATPase and proton transport activities were both substantially inhibited by nitrate (80%), but very little by vanadate (10%), indicating a high titer of tonoplast compared to plasma-membrane vesicles in the fraction. Sensitivity toward other inhibitors, as well as ion effects, correlated closely among ATPase and proton translocation activities. Although the vesicles in this fraction showed good proton translocating activity there was no indication that ATP stimulated sucrose uptake in this tonoplast population.     

Purification of membrane attachment and inhibitory subunits of the proton translocating adenosine triphosphatase from Escherichia coli.

The portion of Escherichia coli adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) which is peripheral to the membrane (ECFl) is composed of five separate polypeptides referred to as alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and epsilon. Treating purified ECFl with pyridine precipitated the three larger polypeptides (alpha, beta, and gamma), but the two smaller ones (delta and epsilon), which represent only about 10% of ECFl, remained in solution. After removing the pyridine, both delta and epsilon were active and both were obtained in essentially pure form after chromatography on a single molecular-seive column. epsilon strongly inhibited the ATPase activity of ECFl, indicating that epsilon has a regulatory role in the enzyme. epsilon inhibited ECFl missing delta, indicating that delta is not required for inhibition by epsilon. However, enzyme containing just the alpha and beta subunits, which was prepared by treating ECFl with a protease, was fully active hydrolytically but not at all sensitive to inhibition by epsilon. This result suggests that the gamma polypeptide is required for the inhibition of the ATPase by epsilon. delta restored the capacity of ECFl missing delta to recombine with ECFl-depleted membrane vesicles. The ECFl, which became attached to the vesicles by the added delta, was functional in energy transduction, as evidenced by the coupling of ATP hydrolysis to the transhydrogenase reaction in the vesicles. The rebinding of ECFl missing delta was directly proportional to the amount of delta added until all the ECFl receptors in the membranes were occupied. delta may be a stalk which connects the Fl headpiece to the membrane, since the attachment of ECFl to the membrane exhibited an absolute dependence on delta. Although delta is known to have an apparent molecular weight of about 20,000 by gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate, the active delta eluted from a molecular-seive column with an apparent molecular weight of about 35,000, suggesting that in the active form delta is a dimer or rather elongated in shape. The active epsilon subunit eluted from the same column with an apparent molecular weight of about 16,000.     

The assignment of the Ca2+-ATPase activity of chromaffin granules to the proton translocating ATPase

CaATP is shown to function as a substrate for the proton translocating ATPase of chromaffin granule ghosts at concentrations which are comparable to that of MgATP. Using the initial rate of the proton pump activity as the measure (delta pH/delta t), an apparent Km-value of 139 +/- 8 microM was estimated for CaATP and 59 +/- 3 microM for MgATP. The maximal rate was markedly higher with MgATP than with CaATP, partly due to an inhibition of the hydrolytic activity at the higher concentrations of CaATP. The proton pump activity with CaATP was inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide and N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide at concentrations similar to that found for MgATP. No inhibition was observed with sodium vanadate in the concentration range 0-15 microM. Calmodulin and trifluoperazine had no effect on the overall ATPase activity with CaATP. These findings establish this activity as an intrinsic property of the chromaffin granules, i.e., linked to the H+-ATPase. No evidence was obtained for the presence of a Ca2+-translocating ATPase [Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase) in the chromaffin granules.     

Nucleotide binding to isolated alpha and beta subunits of proton translocating adenosine triphosphatase studied with circular dichroism

The catalytic and allosteric sites of proton translocating adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) were studied by measuring the binding of nucleotides to the ATPase, and its alpha and beta subunits purified from thermophilic bacterium PS3, with a circular dichroic spectrometer. In contrast to mesophilic ATPases, this thermophilic enzmye contained no tightly bound nucleotides, and its subunits were stable after their purification. These properties were advantageous for analyzing both catalytic and allosteric sites. The former site showed rapid and loose binding, but the latter slow (t 1/2 = 1 h, for ADP) and tight binding. When a nucleotide was bound, the beta subunits showed a negative ellipticity at 275 nm corresponding to a tyrosyl residue, while the alpha subunits showed an ellipticity change corresponding to the absorption curve of the bound nucleotide. This difference enabled us to distinguish the binding sites in ATPase. At a low concentration, ADP selectively bound to alpha subunits in the ATPase, while at a high concentration, it bound to both subunits. This finding suggests that the tight binding sites are located in the alpha subunits. Although ADP and ATP bound to both the purified alpha and beta subunits, CTP did not bind to beta but only to alpha subunits, and ITP bound to beta but hardly to alpha. These nucleotide specificities also supported the idea that the catalytic sites are located in the beta subunits and the allosteric sites are located in the alpha subunits.