Reconstitution of mitochondrial F0.F1-ATPase with phosphatidylcholine using the nonionic detergent, octylglucoside

A reconstitution procedure has been developed for the incorporation of the mitochondrial F0.F1-ATPase into the bilayer of egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles. The nonionic detergent, octylglucoside, egg phosphatidylcholine, and the lipid-deficient, oligomycin-sensitive F0.F1-ATPase (Serrano, R., Kanner, B., and Racker, E. (1976) J. Biol. Chem. 251, 2453-2461) were combined in a 4770:320:1 detergent/phospholipid/protein molar ratio and then centrifuged on a discontinuous sucrose gradient to isolate the F0.F1-phosphatidylcholine complex. The specific activity of the reconstituted F0.F1-ATPase was as high as 14.5 mumol/min/mg protein, whereas with no added lipid the activity ranged between 1.4 and 2.2 mumol/min/mg protein. This reconstituted preparation exhibited greater than 90% oligomycin sensitivity which demonstrated the intactness of the multisubunit enzyme complex. The phosphatidylcholine/protein molar ratio of the reconstituted F0.F1 was 250:1 with less than 0.4% of the added octylglucoside remaining. Titrations with both phosphatidylcholine and octylglucoside demonstrated that the specific activity and oligomycin sensitivity were highly dependent on the concentrations of both phospholipid and detergent in the original reconstitution mixture. Analysis of the reconstituted ATPase by electron microscopy demonstrated that the catalytic portion of the enzyme complex projected from the phospholipid bilayer with an orientation similar to that observed with submitochondrial particles. The F0.F1-phosphatidylcholine complex was able to trap inulin, which suggests a vesicular structure impermeable to macromolecules. The electrophoretic mobility of the complex was identical to that for liposomes of egg phosphatidylcholine alone. The reconstitution conditions utilized give rise to an enzyme-phospholipid complex with very low ionic charge that demonstrates high oligomycin-sensitive ATPase activity.