The NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, respiratory complex I, couples the transfer of electrons from NADH to ubiquinone with a translocation of protons across the membrane. The complex consists of a peripheral arm catalyzing the electron transfer reaction and a membrane arm involved in proton translocation. The recently published X-ray structures of the complex revealed the presence of a unique 110 Å “horizontal” helix aligning the membrane arm. On the basis of this finding, it was proposed that the energy released by the redox reaction is transmitted to the membrane arm via a conformational change in the horizontal helix. The helix corresponds to the C-terminal part of the most distal subunit NuoL. To investigate its role in proton translocation, we characterized the electron transfer and proton translocation activity of complex I variants lacking either NuoL or parts of the C-terminal domain. Our data suggest that the H+/2e− stoichiometry of the ΔNuoL variant is 2, indicating a different stoichiometry for proton translocation as proposed from structural data. In addition, the same H+/e− stoichiometry is obtained with the variant lacking the C-terminal transmembraneous helix of NuoL, indicating its role in energy transmission.

The proton-pumping NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) is the first enzyme complex of the respiratory chains in many bacteria and most eukaryotes. It is the least understood of all, due to its enormous size and unique energy conversion mechanism. The bacterial complex is in general made up of 14 different subunits named NuoA−N. Subunits NuoE, -F, and -G comprise the electron input part of the complex. We have cloned these genes from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus and expressed them heterologously in Escherichia coli. A soluble subcomplex made up of NuoE and NuoF and containing the NADH binding site, the primary electron acceptor flavin mononucleotide (FMN), the binuclear iron−sulfur cluster N1a, and the tetranuclear iron−sulfur cluster N3 was isolated by chromatographic methods. The proteins were identified by N-terminal sequencing and mass spectrometry; the cofactors were characterized by UV/vis and EPR spectroscopy. Subunit NuoG was not produced in this strain. The preparation was thermostable and exhibited maximum NADH/ferricyanide oxidoreductase activity at 85 °C. Analytical size-exclusion chromatography and dynamic light scattering revealed the homogeneity of the preparation. First attempts to crystallize the preparation led to crystals diffracting more than 2 Å.

Frataxin is discussed as involved in the biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters. Recently it was discovered that a frataxin homologue is a structural component of the respiratory NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) in Thermus thermophilus. It was not clear whether frataxin is in general a component of complex I from bacteria. The Escherichia coli homologue of frataxin is coined CyaY.We report that complex I is completely assembled to a stable and active enzyme complex equipped with all known iron-sulfur clusters in a cyaY mutant of E. coli. However, the amount of complex I is reduced by one third compared to the parental strain. Western blot analysis and live cell imaging of CyaY engineered with a GFP demonstrated that CyaY is located in the cytoplasm and not attached to the membrane as to be expected if it were a component of complex I.CyaY plays a non-essential role in the assembly of complex I in E. coli. It is not a structural component but may transiently interact with the complex.

The NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase couples the electron transfer from NADH to ubiquinone with the translocation of protons across the membrane. It contains a 110 Å long helix running parallel to the membrane part of the complex. Deletion of the helix resulted in a reduced H+/e− stoichiometry indicating its direct involvement in proton translocation. Here, we show that the mutation of the conserved amino acid D563L, which is part of the horizontal helix of the Escherichia coli complex I, leads to a reduced H+/e− stoichiometry. It is discussed that this residue is involved in transferring protons to the membranous proton translocation site.Highlights► The respiratory complex I contains an unusual, ‘horizontal’ helix on subunit NuoL. ► We mutated residues of the helix to investigate their role in proton translocation. ► The variants D563XL (X = E, N, Q and A) showed a reduced H+/e− stoichiometry. ► D563L is involved in proton transfer to the membranous translocation site.