In eukaryotic cells, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for the regulated degradation of intracellular proteins. The 26S holocomplex comprises the core particle (CP), where proteolysis takes place, and one or two regulatory particles (RPs). The base of the RP is formed by a heterohexameric AAA + ATPase module, which unfolds and translocates substrates into the CP. Applying single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and image classification to samples in the presence of different nucleotides and nucleotide analogs, we were able to observe four distinct conformational states (s1 to s4). The resolution of the four conformers allowed for the construction of atomic models of the AAA + ATPase module as it progresses through the functional cycle. In a hitherto unobserved state (s4), the gate controlling access to the CP is open. The structures described in this study allow us to put forward a model for the 26S functional cycle driven by ATP hydrolysis.26S proteasome | cryo-electron microscopy | AAA + ATPase | integrative modeling | single-particle analysis I n eukaryotic cells, the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) degrades proteins that are misfolded, damaged, or no longer needed (1). The 26S proteasome is a 2.5-MDa multisubunit complex comprising the barrel-shaped 20S core particle (CP), where degradation takes place, and one or two 19S regulatory particles (RPs), which bind to the ends of the CP (2-4). The CP is built of four coaxially stacked heteroheptameric rings of α-and β-subunits in the order of αββα (5). Three of the seven β-subunits are catalytically active; substrates are sequestered from the cellular environment in a chamber formed by the two β-rings (6, 7). This self-compartmentalization is a hallmark of many intracellular proteases (8). Substrate access to the proteolytic chamber is controlled by the α-subunit N-terminal extensions, forming a gate (3). Most of proteasome activators, including the RP, contain C-terminal hydrophobic-tyrosine-X (HbYX) motifs, which have been reported to insert into α-ring pockets, triggering gate opening (9-11).The RP is composed of at least 19 canonical subunits and interacts substoichiometrically with an array of proteasomeinteracting proteins that modulate RP function (3). The RP is divided into the "base" and the "lid" subcomplexes. The core of the base is formed by a heterohexameric ATPase associated with various cellular activities (AAA + ATPase), which is the driver of large-scale conformational dynamics of the RP. The AAA + ATPase prepares substrates for degradation in coordination with at least three ubiquitin receptors [26S proteasome non-ATPase regulatory subunit 1 (Rpn1), Rpn10, and Rpn13] (12-14) and a deubiquitylating subunit (Rpn11) (15, 16). Other subunits have structural roles, such as holding the CP and RP together, or in coordinating the movements needed to position the substrates above the pore of the AAA + ATPase for unfolding and translocation (17, 18). The AAA + ATPase is lined by aromatic-hydrophobic loops (pore-1 loops), wh...