Effects of nucleotides on assembly of the 26S proteasome and degradation of ubiquitin conjugates.

We have investigated three aspects of nucleotide usage by the 26S proteasome and its regulatory complex (RC). Both particles hydrolyze the four major ribonucleotides, but ATP and CTP have substantially lower Kms for hydrolysis than do GTP and UTP. The Km for ATP hydrolysis is 15 microm for the 26S proteasome and 30 microm for the regulatory complex. Formation of the 26S proteasome from the RC and the 20S proteasome requires about 5 microm ATP. Although measurable degradation of Ubiquitin(Ub)-lysozyme conjugates occurs in the presence of CTP, GTP, and UTP, the best nucleotide for Ub-conjugate degradation by the 26S proteasome is ATP, with an estimated Km of 12 microm. In summary, our studies show that micromolar concentrations of ATP are sufficient for several 26S proteasome activities.