ATP catalyzes the sequestration of clathrin during enzymatic uncoating

ATP facilitates the sequestration of displaced triskelions by uncoating protein. In so doing, ATP is not hydrolyzed; nor does the concentration of ATP affect the equilibrium of this binding. However, the rates of both the binding of uncoating protein to clathrin and of their dissociation are greatly accelerated by ATP. These properties suggest that ATP acts catalytically to speed the capture of displaced triskelions by uncoating protein, as well as stoichiometrically in its hydrolysis to drive the displacement of triskelions from cages. The nucleotide specificity of this "catalytic" site for ATP on the uncoating protein is much less strict than that of the distinct "hydrolytic" site that drives the ATP-dependent displacement of triskelions from cages.