Specificity of nucleotide binding and coupled reactions utilising the mitochondrial ATPase

1. Tightly bound ATP and ADP, found on the isolated mitochondrial ATPase, exchange only slowly at pH 8, but the exchange is increased as the pH is reduced. At pH 5.5, more than 60% of the bound nucleotide exchanges within 2.5 min. 2. Preincubation of the isolated ATPase with ADP leads to about 50% inhibition of ATP hydrolysis when the enzyme is subsequently assayed in the absence of free ADP. This effect, which is reversed by preincubation with ATP, is absent on the membrane-bound ATPase. This inhibition seems to involve the replacement of tightly bound ATP by ADP. 3. Using these two findings, the binding specificity of the tight nucleotide binding sites was determined. iso-Guanosine, 2'-deoxyadenosine and formycin nucleotides displaced ATP from the tight binding sites, while all other nucleotides tested did not. The specificities of the tight sites of the isolated and membrane-bound ATPase were similar, and higher than that of the hydrolytic site. 4. The nucleotide specificities of 'coupled processes' nucleoside triphosphate-driven reversal of electron transfer, nucleoside triphosphate-32Pi exchange and phosphorylation were higher than that of the hydrolytic site of the ATPase and similar to that of the tight nucleotide binding sites.