Orientation of subunit c of the ATP synthase of Escherichia coli--a study with peptide-specific antibodies.

Antibodies were raised against a peptide of subunit c of the ATP synthase from Escherichia coli obtained by cleavage with cyanogen bromide. This peptide comprises the amino acid residues Gly-18 to Met-57 and contains the highly conserved, hydrophilic stretch of subunit c. Several conformation-specific populations of antibodies recognized this region both in isolated subunit c and in the intact F0 complex. In antibody binding studies with membrane vesicles of different orientations, recognition occurred only after incubation with everted membrane vesicles, independent of the presence or absence of F1, although a higher membrane protein concentration was necessary to observe the same antibody binding in the presence of the F1 part. From these results we conclude that the hydrophilic region of subunit c is exposed to the cytoplasmic side of the membrane.