The Na+,K+-ATPase generates electrochemical gradients for sodium and potassium that are vital to animal cells, exchanging three sodium ions for two potassium ions across the plasma membrane during each cycle of ATP hydrolysis. Here we present the X-ray crystal structure at 3.5 A resolution of the pig renal Na+,K+-ATPase with two rubidium ions bound (as potassium congeners) in an occluded state in the transmembrane part of the alpha-subunit. Several of the residues forming the cavity for rubidium/potassium occlusion in the Na+,K+-ATPase are homologous to those binding calcium in the Ca2+-ATPase of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum. The beta- and gamma-subunits specific to the Na+,K+-ATPase are associated with transmembrane helices alphaM7/alphaM10 and alphaM9, respectively. The gamma-subunit corresponds to a fragment of the V-type ATPase c subunit. The carboxy terminus of the alpha-subunit is contained within a pocket between transmembrane helices and seems to be a novel regulatory element controlling sodium affinity, possibly influenced by the membrane potential.

A tight coupling between adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis and vectorial ion transport has to be maintained by ATP-consuming ion pumps. We report two crystal structures of Ca2+-bound sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-adenosine triphosphatase (SERCA) at 2.6 and 2.9 angstrom resolution in complex with (i) a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog [adenosine (beta-gamma methylene)-triphosphate] and (ii) adenosine diphosphate plus aluminum fluoride. SERCA reacts with ATP by an associative mechanism mediated by two Mg2+ ions to form an aspartyl-phosphorylated intermediate state (Ca2-E1 approximately P). The conformational changes that accompany the reaction with ATP pull the transmembrane helices 1 and 2 and close a cytosolic entrance for Ca2+, thereby preventing backflow before Ca2+ is released on the other side of the membrane.

P-type ATPases extract energy by hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in two steps, formation and breakdown of a covalent phosphoenzyme intermediate. This process drives active transport and countertransport of the cation pumps. We have determined the crystal structure of rabbit sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ adenosine triphosphatase in complex with aluminum fluoride, which mimics the transition state of hydrolysis of the counterion-bound (protonated) phosphoenzyme. On the basis of structural analysis and biochemical data, we find this form to represent an occluded state of the proton counterions. Hydrolysis is catalyzed by the conserved Thr-Gly-Glu-Ser motif, and it exploits an associative nucleophilic reaction mechanism of the same type as phosphoryl transfer from ATP. On this basis, we propose a general mechanism of occluded transition states of Ca2+ transport and H+ countertransport coupled to phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, respectively.

The ruthenium complex [Ru(phen)(2)(dppz)](2+) (where phen is phenanthroline and dppz dipyridophenazine is known as a 'light switch' complex because its luminescence in solution is significantly enhanced in the presence of DNA. This property is poised to serve in diagnostic and therapeutic applications, but its binding mode with DNA needs to be elucidated further. Here, we describe the crystal structures of the Λ enantiomer bound to two oligonucleotide duplexes. The dppz ligand intercalates symmetrically and perpendicularly from the minor groove of the d(CCGGTACCGG)(2) duplex at the central TA/TA step, but not at the central AT/AT step of d(CCGGATCCGG)(2). In both structures, however, a second ruthenium complex links the duplexes through the combination of a shallower angled intercalation into the C(1)C(2)/G(9)G(10) step at the end of the duplex, and semi-intercalation into the G(3)G(4) step of an adjacent duplex. The TA/TA specificity of the perpendicular intercalation arises from the packing of phenanthroline ligands against the adenosine residue.