Cryo-EM reveals distinct conformations of E. coli ATP synthase on exposure to ATP

  1. Meghna Sobti
  2. Robert Ishmukhametov
  3. James C Bouwer
  4. Anita Ayer
  5. Cacang Suarna
  6. Nicola J Smith
  7. Mary Christie
  8. Roland Stocker
  9. Thomas M Duncan
  10. Alastair G Stewart  Is a corresponding author
  1. The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Australia
  2. University of Oxford, United Kingdom
  3. The University of Wollongong, Australia
  4. SUNY Upstate Medical University, United States

Abstract

ATP synthase produces the majority of cellular energy in most cells. We have previously reported cryo-EM maps of autoinhibited E. coli ATP synthase imaged without addition of nucleotide (Sobti et al. 2016), indicating that the subunit ε engages the α, β and γ subunits to lock the enzyme and prevent functional rotation. Here we present multiple cryo-EM reconstructions of the enzyme frozen after the addition of MgATP to identify the changes that occur when this ε inhibition is removed. The maps generated show that, after exposure to MgATP, E. coli ATP synthase adopts a different conformation with a catalytic subunit changing conformation substantially and the ε C-terminal domain transitioning via an intermediate 'half-up' state to a condensed 'down' state. This work provides direct evidence for unique conformational states that occur in E. coli ATP synthase when ATP binding prevents the ε C-terminal domain from entering the inhibitory 'up' state.

Data availability

Cryo-EM maps have been deposited to the EMDB. Codes: EMD-9345, EMD-9346 and EMD-9348.

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Meghna Sobti

    Molecular, Structural and Computational Biology Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Robert Ishmukhametov

    Department of Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. James C Bouwer

    Molecular Horizons, The University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Anita Ayer

    Vascular Biology Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Cacang Suarna

    Vascular Biology Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Nicola J Smith

    Molecular Cardiology and Biophysics Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Mary Christie

    Molecular, Structural and Computational Biology Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Roland Stocker

    Vascular Biology Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Thomas M Duncan

    Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  10. Alastair G Stewart

    Molecular, Structural and Computational Biology Division, The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, Australia
    For correspondence
    a.stewart@victorchang.edu.au
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-2070-6030

Funding

National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1159347)

  • Alastair G Stewart

National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1146403)

  • Meghna Sobti
  • Alastair G Stewart

Australian Research Council (DE160100608)

  • Mary Christie

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2019, Sobti et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Meghna Sobti
  2. Robert Ishmukhametov
  3. James C Bouwer
  4. Anita Ayer
  5. Cacang Suarna
  6. Nicola J Smith
  7. Mary Christie
  8. Roland Stocker
  9. Thomas M Duncan
  10. Alastair G Stewart
(2019)
Cryo-EM reveals distinct conformations of E. coli ATP synthase on exposure to ATP
eLife 8:e43864.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43864

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43864

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