Coupling H(+) transport to rotary catalysis in F-type ATP synthases: structure and organization of the transmembrane rotary motor.

H(+)-transporting F(1)F(o)-type ATP synthases utilize a transmembrane H(+) potential to drive ATP formation by a rotary catalytic mechanism. ATP is formed in alternating beta subunits of the extramembranous F(1) sector of the enzyme, synthesis being driven by rotation of the gamma subunit in the center of the F(1) molecule between the alternating catalytic sites. The H(+) electrochemical potential is thought to drive gamma subunit rotation by first coupling H(+) transport to rotation of an oligomeric rotor of c subunits within the transmembrane F(o) sector. The gamma subunit is forced to turn with the c(12) oligomeric rotor as a result of connections between subunit c and the gamma and epsilon subunits of F(1). In this essay, we will review recent studies on the Escherichia coli F(o) sector. The monomeric structure of subunit c, determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), is discussed first and used as a basis for the rest of the review. A model for the structural organization of the c(12) oligomer in F(o), deduced from extensive cross-linking studies and by molecular modeling, is then described. The interactions between the the a(1)b(2) 'stator' subcomplex of F(o) and the c(12) oligomer are then considered. A functional interaction between transmembrane helix 4 of subunit a (aTMH-4) and transmembrane helix 2 of subunit c (cTMH-2) during the proton-release step from Asp61 on cTMH-2 is suggested. Current a-c cross-linking data can only be explained by helix-helix swiveling or rotation during the proton transfer steps. A model that mechanically links helix rotation within a single subunit c to the incremental 30 degrees rotation of the c(12) oligomer is proposed. In the final section, the structural interactions between the surface residues of the c(12) oligomer and subunits epsilon and gamma are considered. A molecular model for the binding of subunit epsilon between the exposed, polar surfaces of two subunits c in the oligomer is proposed on the basis of cross-linking data and the NMR structures of the individual subunits.