Oligomycin sensitivity conferring protein (OSCP) of bovine heart mitochondrial ATP synthase: high-affinity OSCP-Fo interactions require a local alpha-helix at the C-terminal end of the subunit.

Earlier studies on oligomycin sensitivity conferring protein (OSCP) of bovine mitochondrial ATP synthase (F1Fo) indicated that a deletion mutant form (CD-10), lacking the last 10 amino acid residues (K181-L190), was unable to bind to the Fo segment, or reconstitute energy-linked reactions in OSCP-depleted F1Fo complexes [Joshi et al. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 12094-12103]. So far as known, the K181-L190 region of all mammalian species of OSCP harbors four charged residues at positions 181, 184, 187, and 188, while secondary structure predictions suggest that the K178-M186 region has a high propensity to form a helix [Ovchinnikov et al. (1984) FEBS Lett. 166, 19-22; Higuti et al. (1993) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1172, 311-314; Grinkevich et al. ( 1994) Biol. Membr. 11, 310-323; Engelbrecht et al. (1991) Z. Naturforsch., C: Biochem., Biophys., Biol.,Virol. 46, 759-764]. Present studies were undertaken to clarify the role of individual amino acids in the K181-L190 region in OSCP-stimulated energy coupling. Our data show that simultaneous replacements of all four charged residues by uncharged but polar glutamines, or of K181-R184 by apolar alanines, had no significant influence either on the total alpha-helix content of the mutant forms or on the ability of mutant OSCPs to couple energy-linked reactions. However, a substitution of the K181-M186 region by six proline residues led to complete loss in the coupling activity of the resultant mutant. A detailed analysis of the 6-proline mutant form revealed that the variant was indistinguishable from WT OSCP with respect to expression characteristics, affinity for S-Sepharose, and ability to interact with F1, but was unable to complex with the Fo segment. These studies suggest that the global protein structure was not destabilized. The helix potential prediction analyses showed that the 6-proline OSCP displayed a marked decrease in the helix-forming propensity in the region corresponding to residues 175-190. Quantitative CD analyses to measure helical content demonstrated that both of the mutant forms 6-proline-OSCP and CD-10 had a somewhat lower alpha-helical content compared to WT protein, while synthetic peptides corresponding in sequence to the K178-L190 region displayed a high propensity to form a helix. Taken together, these results suggest that the C-terminal end of OSCP encompasses an alpha-helix which is crucial for high-affinity interactions of the C-terminal end of this subunit with Fo in the F1Fo enzyme.