Abstract
Inactivation of the isolated ATPase portion of ATP synthase from beef-heart mitochondria (F1) by its natural inhibitor protein (IP) during steady-state ATP hydrolysis is accompanied by a trapping of 1 mol nucleotide/mol F1 in one of the catalytic sites. The trapped nucleotide is not released during incubation of IP-inhibited F1 in the presence of MgATP at pH 8.0 for at least 20 min, indicating a very low turnover rate of the IP.F1 complex. The ATP/ADP ratio of the trapped nucleotides is higher than that found for transitorily bound nucleotides under the same conditions but in the absence of IP. The IP impairs the acceleration of ATP hydrolysis and product release steps that results from the binding of ATP to an alternate catalytic site. It also inhibits ATP hydrolysis by a single catalytic site or shifts the equilibrium toward ATP formation from bound ADP and Pi. At high pH, an active acidic form of the free IP is transformed to the inactive basic one with a half-time of 3-4 s. This process seems to be prevented by IP binding to F1. The inactive basic form of IP does not compete with the active acidic IP for the binding to F1. The data do not favor the existence of a long-lived catalytically active IP.F1 intermediate during IP action on F1. The reactivation of IP-inhibited membrane-bound F1 by energization may be due to a conformational change in the IP.F1 complex allowing the transformation of IP into an inactive basic state that rapidly dissociates.

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