New
Discovery in ATP Synthase
Background Information
Role
of ATP Sythase in the Cell
New Information
New information that helps to understand how ATP Synthase works. It is the recent discovery that phospholipids coat the inside of the c ring of the F0 subunit of ATP Synthase. Swiss researchers (Oberfeld, et al) discovered that about 10 phospholipids coat the inner surface of the c ring of ATP Synthase of E. coli. The phospholipids function as "plugs", creating a chamber within the c ring, sealing any holes that might exist, and reducing the amount of energy needed to maintain a proton gradient because the lipids act as an insulator to keep protons from leaking out.
Figure : In plants and animals, phosphatidylethanol amine is the second-most common phospholipid, and it is a component of the plasma membrane. Phosphatiylethanol-amine can have carbon chains of varying lengths. It is this phospholipid that is believed to play a role as an insulator in the interior of the c ring of ATP Synthase.
Figure : The figure to the left shows phosphatidylethanolamine oriented in relation to one of the c subunits in the c ring. The hydrophobic fatty acid chains are on the interior of the c ring, while the hydrophilic head protrudes into the periplasmic space on the exterior of the c ring. The second picture shows the c ring with phospholipids drawn in to illustrate the authors' proposed structure (Oberfeld 2006).
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*put picture of the c ring in here, somehow with illustration of phospholipid insulators