Thermodynamics and kinetics of the F o F 1 -ATPase: application of the probability isotherm

Abstract

We use the results of recent publications as vehicles with which to discuss the thermodynamics of the proton-driven mitochondrial F o F 1 -ATP synthase, focusing particularly on the possibility that there may be dissociation between rotatory steps and ATP synthesis/hydrolysis. Such stoichiometric ‘slippage’ has been invoked in the literature to explain observed non-ideal behaviour. Numerical solution of the Rate Isotherm (the kinetic equivalent of the more fundamental Probability Isotherm) suggests that such ‘slippage’ is an unlikely explanation; instead, we suggest that the experimental results may be more consistent with damage to the enzyme caused by its isolation from the biomembrane and its experimental fixation, resulting in non-physiological friction within the enzyme's rotary mechanism. We emphasize the unavoidable constraint of the Second Law as instantiated by the obligatory dissipation of Gibbs Free Energy if the synthase is to operate at anything other than thermodynamic equilibrium. We use further numerical solution of the Rate Isotherm to demonstrate that there is no necessary association of low thermodynamic efficiency with high metabolic rates in a bio-world in which the dominating mechanism of metabolic control is multifactorial enzyme activation.