The respiratory Complex I is a highly intricate redox-driven proton pump that powers oxidative phosphorylation across all domains of life. Yet, despite major efforts in recent decades, its long-range energy transduction principles remain highly debated. We create here minimal proton-conducting membrane modules by engineering and dissecting the key elements of the bacterial Complex I. By combining biophysical, biochemical, and computational experiments, we show that the isolated antiporter-like modules of Complex I comprise all functional elements required for conducting protons across proteoliposome membranes. We find that the rate of proton conduction is controlled by conformational changes of buried ion-pairs that modulate the reaction barriers by electric field effects. The proton conduction is also modulated by bulky residues along the proton channels that are key for establishing a tightly coupled proton pumping machinery in Complex I. Our findings provide direct experimental evidence that the individual antiporter modules are responsible for the proton transport activity of Complex I. On a general level, our findings highlight electrostatic and conformational coupling mechanisms in the modular energy-transduction machinery of Complex I with distinct similarities to other enzymes.

Components of respiratory chains in mitochondria and some aerobic bacteria assemble into larger, multiprotein membrane-bound supercomplexes. Here, we address the functional significance of supercomplexes composed of respiratory-chain complexes III and IV. Complex III catalyzes oxidation of quinol and reduction of water-soluble cytochrome c (cyt c), while complex IV catalyzes oxidation of the reduced cyt c and reduction of dioxygen to water. We focus on two questions: (i) under which conditions does diffusion of cyt c become rate limiting for electron transfer between these two complexes? (ii) is there a kinetic advantage of forming a supercomplex composed of complexes III and IV? To answer these questions, we use a theoretical approach and assume that cyt c diffuses in the water phase while complexes III and IV either diffuse independently in the two dimensions of the membrane or form supercomplexes. The analysis shows that the electron flux between complexes III and IV is determined by the equilibration time of cyt c within the volume of the intermembrane space, rather than the cyt c diffusion time constant. Assuming realistic relative concentrations of membrane-bound components and cyt c and that all components diffuse independently, the data indicate that electron transfer between complexes III and IV can become rate limiting. Hence, there is a kinetic advantage of bringing complexes III and IV together in the membrane to form supercomplexes.

The transmembrane protein cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is the terminal oxidase in the respiratory chain of many aerobic organisms and catalyzes the reduction of dioxygen to water. This process maintains an electrochemical proton gradient across the membrane hosting the oxidase. CcO is a well-established model enzyme in bioenergetics to study the proton-coupled electron transfer reactions and protonation dynamics involved in these processes. Its catalytic mechanism is subject to ongoing intense research. Previous research, however, was mainly focused on the turnover of oxygen and electrons in CcO, while studies reporting proton turnover rates of CcO, that is the rate of proton uptake by the enzyme, are scarce. Here, we reconstitute CcO from R. sphaeroides into liposomes containing a pH sensitive dye and probe changes of the pH value inside single proteoliposomes using fluorescence microscopy. CcO proton turnover rates are quantified at the single-enzyme level. In addition, we recorded the distribution of the number of functionally reconstituted CcOs across the proteoliposome population. Studies are performed using proteoliposomes made of native lipid sources, such as a crude extract of soybean lipids and the polar lipid extract of E. coli, as well as purified lipid fractions, such as phosphatidylcholine extracted from soybean lipids. It is shown that these lipid compositions have only minor effects on the CcO proton turnover rate, but can have a strong impact on the reconstitution efficiency of functionally active CcOs. In particular, our experiments indicate that efficient functional reconstitution of CcO is strongly promoted by the addition of anionic lipids like phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin. 

Proton-transfer reactions belong to the most prevalent reactions in the biosphere and make life on Earth possible, as they are central to energy conversion. In most known organisms, protons are translocated from one side of a membrane to the other, which generates an electrochemical gradient that drives ATP synthesis. Both the membranes and the proteins that are involved in these processes are vital components of energy-conversion machineries. This thesis presents and discusses proton transfer at surfaces of membranes and proteins, as well as proton translocation across membranes via enzymes.

In the first work, we developed a single-enzyme approach to study proton translocation by the proton pump cytochrome bo₃ (cyt. bo₃). The generated proton gradients were stable as long as substrate (electrons, oxygen) was available. Individual cyt. bo₃ could generate proton gradients of ∼2 pH units, which correspond to the measured electrochemical gradient in Escherichia coli cells.

When acidic and basic amino acids are in close proximity to each other on a protein surface, their individual Coulomb cages can merge to form a proton antenna that enables fast proton transfer to specific groups. To investigate how the function of a proton pump is affected by structural changes in a proton antenna, close to a proton uptake pathway, we characterized the function and structure of genetic variants of cytochrome c oxidase (CytcO). When a Glu, located about 10 Å from the first residue of the D-pathway, was replaced by a non-protonatable residue (Ala) the proton pumping efficiency decreased by more than half compared to the wild-type enzyme. The proton-uptake kinetics was also altered in this variant.

Cardiolipin (CL) is found in membranes where ATP is generated. This phospholipid alters the membrane structure and binds a variety of proteins including all complexes that take part in oxidative phosphorylation. To investigate the role of CL in proton-transfer reactions on the surface of membranes we used fluorescence correlation spectroscopy to study inner mitochondrial membranes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The protonation rate at wild-type membranes was about 50% of that measured with membranes prepared from mitochondria lacking CL. The protonation rate on the surface of small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) decreased by about a factor of three when DOPC-SUVs were supplemented with 20% CL. Furthermore, phosphate buffer titrations with SUVs showed that CL can act as a local proton buffer in a membrane.

The respiratory supercomplex factor 1 (Rcf1) has been suggested to facilitate direct electron transfer from the bc₁ complex to CytcO by bridging the enzymes and binding cytochrome c (cyt. c) to a flexible domain of Rcf1. We investigated biding of cyt. c to Rcf1 reconstituted into different membrane environments. The apparent K_D of the binding between cyt. c and DOPC-liposomes was almost five times lower when Rcf1 was present in the vesicles. Moreover, the apparent K_D between cyt. c and liposome reconstituted CytcO was about nine times lower for CytcO isolated from a wild-type strain compared to a Rcf1-lacking strain.

Data from earlier studies showed that minor structural changes at the surface of cytochrome c oxidase, in one of the proton-input pathways (the D pathway), result in dramatically decreased activity and a lower proton-pumping stoichiometry. To further investigate how changes around the D pathway orifice influence functionality of the enzyme, here we modified the nearby C-terminal loop of subunit I of the Rhodobacter sphaeroides cytochrome c oxidase. Removal of 16 residues from this flexible surface loop resulted in a decrease in the proton-pumping stoichiometry to <50% of that of the wild-type enzyme. Replacement of the protonatable residue Glu552, part of the same loop, by an Ala, resulted in a similar decrease in the proton-pumping stoichiometry without loss of the O2-reduction activity or changes in the proton-uptake kinetics. The data show that minor structural changes at the orifice of the D pathway, at a distance of ~40 Å from the proton gate of cytochrome c oxidase, may alter the proton-pumping stoichiometry of the enzyme.

Respiratory oxidases are transmembrane enzymes that catalyze the reduction of dioxygen to water in the final step of aerobic respiration. This process is linked to proton pumping across the membrane. Here, we developed a method to study the catalytic turnover of the quinol oxidase, cytochromebo(3) from E.coli at single-molecule level. Liposomes with reconstituted cytochromebo(3) were loaded with a pH-sensitive dye and changes in the dye fluorescence, associated with proton transfer and pumping, were monitored as a function of time. The single-molecule approach allowed us to determine the orientation of cytochromebo(3) in the membrane; in approximate to 70% of the protein-containing liposomes protons were released to the outside. Upon addition of substrate we observed the buildup of a pH (in the presence of the K+ ionophore valinomycin), which was stable over at least approximate to 800s. No rapid changes in pH (proton leaks) were observed during steady state proton pumping, which indicates that the free energy stored in the electrochemical gradient in E.coli is not dissipated or regulated through stochastic transmembrane proton leaks, as suggested from an earlier study (Li etal. J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2015) 137, 16055-16063).