ATP-dependent inactivation of the .beta.-Ser339Cys mutant F1-ATPase from Escherichia coli by N-ethylmaleimide

We introduced mutations at the highly-conserved residue Ser-339 in subunit beta of Escherichia coli F1-ATPase. The mutations beta S339Y and beta S339F abolished ATPase activity and impaired enzyme assembly. In contrast beta S339C F1 retained function to a substantial degree. N-Ethylmaleimide (NEM) at 0.2-0.3 mM inactivated beta S339C F1-ATPase by 80-95% in the presence of MgATP or MgADP but did not inactivate appreciably in absence of nucleotide or presence of EDTA. In absence of nucleotide, 0.7 mol of [14C-NEM] was incorporated into beta-subunits of 1.0 mol F1: in presence of MgATP the amount was 1.7 mol/mol, i.e. the introduced Cys residue became more accessible to reaction in the presence of MgATP. In the X-ray structure of F1 (Abrahams et al. (1994) Nature 370, 621-628) one of the catalytic nucleotide-binding domains is empty (on the "beta E subunit") and contains a cleft. Residue beta-339 lies within this cleft; the cleft does not occur in the other two beta-subunits. Our data are consistent with the conclusion that in wild-type enzyme under physiological conditions, MgATP or MgADP induce an enzyme conformation in which residue beta-Ser-339 becomes more exposed, possibly similar to the situation seen in the "beta E-subunit" in the X-ray structure.