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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

F1FO ATPase Vesicle Preparation and Technique for Performing Patch Clamp Recordings of Submitochondrial Vesicle Membranes
Published on: May 4, 2013
Torque-induced slip of the rotary motor F1-ATPase
Akilan Palanisami1, Tetsuaki Okamoto
1Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Okubo 3-4-1, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan. apalanisami@uh.edu
Abstract:
F(1)-ATPase plays an essential role in cellular metabolism by linking rotational motion to ATP hydrolysis/synthesis. We measure the torque profile of F(1) in both ATP hydrolysis and synthesis directions using a novel magnetic nanorod assay. F(1) is found to decouple ATP synthesis from rotary motion at a surprisingly low torque. This low-torque slip mechanism protects the enzyme from excessive load and may play a broader biological role by reducing the production of reactive oxygen species.
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