A model of the proton translocation mechanism of complex I

Despite decades of speculation, the proton pumping mechanism of complex I (NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase) is unknown and continues to be controversial. Recent descriptions of the architecture of the hydrophobic region of complex I have resolved one vital issue: this region appears to have multiple proton transporters that are mechanically interlinked. Thus, transduction of conformational changes to drive the transmembrane transporters linked by a "connecting rod" during the reduction of ubiquinone (Q) can account for two or three of the four protons pumped per NADH oxidized. The remaining proton(s) must be pumped by direct coupling at the Q-binding site. Here, we present a mixed model based on a crucial constraint: the strong dependence on the pH gradient across the membrane (ΔpH) of superoxide generation at the Q-binding site of complex I. This model combines direct and indirect coupling mechanisms to account for the pumping of the four protons. It explains the observed properties of the semiquinone in the Q-binding site, the rapid superoxide production from this site during reverse electron transport, its low superoxide production during forward electron transport except in the presence of inhibitory Q-analogs and high protonmotive force, and the strong dependence of both modes of superoxide production on ΔpH.