The Ni atom at the catalytic center of [NiFe] hydrogenases is incorporated by a Ni-metallochaperone, HypA, and a GTPase/ATPase, HypB. We report the crystal structures of the transient complex formed between HypA and ATPase-type HypB (HypB AT ) with Ni ions. Transient association between HypA and HypB AT is controlled by the ATP hydrolysis cycle of HypB AT, which is accelerated by HypA. Only the ATP-bound form of HypB AT can interact with HypA and induces drastic conformational changes of HypA. Consequently, upon complex formation, a conserved His residue of HypA comes close to the N-terminal conserved motif of HypA and forms a Ni-binding site, to which a Ni ion is bound with a nearly square-planar geometry. The Ni binding site in the HypAB AT complex has a nanomolar affinity (K d = 7 nM), which is in contrast to the micromolar affinity (K d = 4 μM) observed with the isolated HypA. The ATP hydrolysis and Ni binding cause conformational changes of HypB AT , affecting its association with HypA. These findings indicate that HypA and HypB AT constitute an ATP-dependent Ni acquisition cycle for [NiFe]-hydrogenase maturation, wherein HypB AT functions as a metallochaperone enhancer and considerably increases the Ni-binding affinity of HypA.X-ray crystallography | metalloprotein | transient complex | metallochaperone A pproximately one-half of all cellular proteins require specific metal ions for proper function, which are delivered by specific metallochaperones (1, 2). However, the mechanisms of correct acquisition and delivery to target proteins of many metallochaperones remain poorly understood.[NiFe] hydrogenases harbor a complex metal cofactor, NiFe(CN) 2 CO, in their active sites (3). This cofactor catalyzes reversible H 2 production. The Ni atom in the NiFe(CN) 2 CO cofactor is bound to four thiolate groups, two of which also bridge the Fe(CN) 2 CO group (4, 5). NiFe(CN) 2 CO biosynthesis requires specific maturation machinery, in which six Hyp proteins (HypA-HypF) play key roles (6, 7). Four Hyp proteins (HypC-HypF) are involved in the biosynthesis and incorporation of the Fe(CN) 2 CO group (8-15). After Fe insertion, HypA and HypB insert the Ni ion into the hydrogenase large subunit (16).HypA is a Ni-metallochaperone that binds to a Ni ion with micromolar affinity (17-19), and its structure consists of a Ni-binding domain (NiBD) and a Zn-binding domain (ZnBD) (20, 21). The NiBD contains a highly conserved MHE motif that is essential for Ni binding at the N terminus (20,22). HypB consists of a common GTPase domain and a less conserved metal-binding region (23)(24)(25). Recently, ATPase-type HypB (HypB AT , previously abbreviated as mmHypB) proteins were identified from Thermococcales (26). GTPase and ATPase types of HypB belong to the SIMIBI class NTPase family and share a similar architecture, despite their low sequence similarity (27). HypA and HypB form a transient complex in the Ni insertion process (17,22,28,29). In the Escherichia coli system, Ni transfer occurs from HypB to HypA (30). However, the functi...