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Function, Structure, and Biogenesis of Mitochondrial ATP Synthase

2005; Academic Press; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0079-6603(05)80003-0

2211-9108

Sharon H. Ackerman, Alexander Tzagoloff,

Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms

This chapter briefly reviews some recent advances in the areas of the subunit structure and the different functions of the ATP synthase, but focuses mainly on the roles of mitochondrial and nuclear gene products in biogenesis of the mitochondrial enzyme. Most of the discussion related to biogenesis will be centered on the ATP synthase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as it is studies of this particular enzyme that have provided much of the currently available information on this topic. As a facultative anaerobe, S. cerevisiae is well suited for such studies because it can survive on fermentable carbon sources in the absence of mitochondrial respiration or oxidative phosphorylation. While all ATP synthases have similar gross structures and catalytic mechanism, the mitochondrial enzymes have acquired a set of subunit polypeptides during evolution that are absent in bacteria and chloroplasts. The subunit compositions of the mammalian and S. cerevisiae F1F0 are almost identical, underscoring the usefulness of yeast as a model for gaining information relevant to mitochondrial ATP synthases in higher eukaryotes. The appreciation of the importance of the ATP synthase, not only in energy metabolism, but also in other aspects of mitochondrial and cellular function, has likewise increased, mainly as a result of information gained from biochemical and genetic studies of S. cerevisiae. The dependence on the F1F0 complex of mtDNA integrity and cristae structure and the essentiality of F1 for maintaining Dc under both Δψ respiring and nonrespiring conditions are examples of the key role the ATPase plays in mitochondrial structure and function.