lucifer-yellow and divinyl-sulfone

The catalytic portion of the chloroplast ATP synthase (CF(1)) consists of five different polypeptides in the stoichiometry alpha(3)beta(3)gammadeltaepsilon and is structurally asymmetric. Asymmetry is readily apparent in the properties of the six nucleotide binding sites and the single-copy, smaller subunits. Asymmetry is also detected in the alpha subunits by the rapid and covalent binding of Lucifer Yellow vinyl sulfone (LY) to one of the three chemically identical alpha subunits. The binding of LY to a single alpha subunit has allowed the investigation of whether asymmetry in the alpha subunits is a permanent feature of CF(1). The development of an electrochemical proton gradient across illuminated thylakoid membranes and the preincubation of CF(1) in solution with Mg(2+)-ATP were found to alter the LY distribution such that multiple alpha subunits were labeled with LY. Illumination of thylakoid membranes doubled the extent of LY labeling, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements indicated that LY was bound to more than one alpha subunit. Since the change in LY distribution was inhibited by proton ionophores (uncouplers), alteration of alpha conformation by illumination is a result of the generation of a proton gradient. Preincubation of CF(1) in solution with Mg(2+)-ATP had no effect on the extent of LY labeling but resulted in multiple alpha subunits binding LY as determined by fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements. Adenine nucleotides at substrate level concentrations inhibit the reaction of LY with the alpha subunits. No increase in LY labeling was observed when thylakoids were illuminated under conditions in which CF(1) was catalytically active.

Topics: Adenine; Adenosine Triphosphate; Catalysis; Chloroplasts; Darkness; Energy Transfer; Fluorescence; Fluorescent Dyes; Intracellular Membranes; Isoquinolines; Light; Models, Biological; Nucleotides; Peptides, Cyclic; Protein Binding; Protein Structure, Quaternary; Proton-Motive Force; Proton-Translocating ATPases; Solutions; Spinacia oleracea; Sulfones; Thylakoids; Uncoupling Agents

The catalytic portion of the chloroplast ATP synthase (CF1) is structurally asymmetric. Asymmetry of the otherwise symmetrical alpha3beta3 heterohexamer is induced by the presence of tightly bound nucleotides and interactions with the single-copy, smaller subunits. Lucifer Yellow vinyl sulfone (4-amino-N-[3-(vinylsulfonyl)phenyl]naphthalimide-3,6-disulfonic acid) rapidly and covalently binds to lysine 378 on one alpha subunit [Nalin, C. M., Snyder, B., and McCarty, R. E., (1985) Biochemistry 24, 2318-2324] [Shapiro, A. B. (1991) Ph.D. Thesis, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY). The asymmetrical binding of Lucifer Yellow to CF1 provides a method to investigate the cause of asymmetry in the alpha subunits. The reaction of CF1 with Lucifer Yellow was monitored by total fluorescence of bound Lucifer Yellow as well as by quantitative determination of Lucifer Yellow bound to the tryptic peptide that contains lysine 378 of the alpha subunit. The total binding of Lucifer Yellow to CF1 was not affected by the presence of tightly bound nucleotides or nucleotide in the medium. Neither the total binding of Lucifer Yellow to CF1 nor the reaction of alpha-lysine 378 with Lucifer Yellow was changed by the removal of the epsilon subunit, the delta subunit, or both subunits. The extent of incorporation of Lucifer Yellow into lysine 378 of the alpha subunit in (alphabeta)n was about three times that of Lucifer Yellow incorporation into CF1. Reconstitution of (alphabeta)n with gamma restored the binding of one Lucifer Yellow per alpha3beta3gamma. Therefore, the interactions between gamma and the alphabeta heterohexamer are important in conferring asymmetry to the alpha subunits of CF1.

Topics: Binding Sites; Chloroplasts; Escherichia coli; Fluorescent Dyes; Isoquinolines; Nucleotides; Peptide Fragments; Protein Conformation; Proton-Translocating ATPases; Recombinant Proteins; Spinacia oleracea; Sulfones; Trypsin