A1A0 ATP synthases are the major energy producers in archaea. Like the related prokaryotic and eukaryotic F1F0 ATP synthases, they are responsible for most of the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate. The catalytic events of A1A0 ATP synthases take place inside the A3B3 hexamer of the A1 domain. Recently, the crystallographic structure of the nucleotide-free subunit B of Methanosarcina mazei Go1 A1A0 ATP synthase has been determined at 1.5 A resolution. To understand more about the nucleotide-binding mechanism, a protocol has been developed to crystallize the subunit B-ADP complex. The crystallographic structure of this complex has been solved at 2.7 A resolution. The ADP occupies a position between the essential phosphate-binding loop and amino-acid residue Phe149, which are involved in the binding of the antibiotic efrapeptin in the related F1F0 ATP synthases. This trapped ADP location is about 13 A distant from its final binding site and is therefore called the transition ADP-binding position. In thetrapped ADP position the structure of subunit B adopts a different conformation, mainly in its C-terminal domain and also in the final nucleotide-binding site of the central alphabeta-domain. This atomic model provides insight into how the substrate enters into the nucleotide-binding protein and thereby into the catalytic A3B3 domain.
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