ATP synthase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

This chapter describes the methods for the analysis of the structural organization of the assembled enzyme complex, provides an overview of the molecular genetic approaches that can be used to generate variants of the individual subunits of the enzyme complex, particularly those encoded in the nuclear genome, and discusses bio-energetic measurements that allow the quantitative definition of the functional performance of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate convertase (mtATPase) and the efficiency of its coupling to the electron transport chain. The examples of experimental results and their interpretations are presented. The methods described for mtATPase analysis can be applied to the investigation of the enzyme complex in both normal and mutant cells. The methods for analysis of mtATPase at the levels of molecular genetics, assembly, and function described can be applied to the studies of this enzyme complex in the context of the already mentioned associated and regulatory proteins.