Cold lability of membrane-bound F1-ATPase.
1. Preincubation of MgATP submitochondrial particles with EDTA or Tris.HCl liberated a measurable amount of ATPase inhibitor that could be rapidly purified using only trichloroacetic acid precipitation and heat treatment. 2. In spite of the emergence of high ATPase activity, a considerable amount of ATPase inhibitor was left in the particles. Comparative analysis of other submitochondrial preparations indicated that only AS-particles were effectively depleted. 3. The high ATPase activity of inhibitor-deficient particles, was labile at low temperature provided that the exposure to cold was done in the presence of MgATP. Other nucleotides could not substitute for ATP. Glycerol inhibited and salts enhanced the cold inactivation of membrane-bound F1-ATPase. Isolation of F1-ATPase from cold-inactivated particles yielded a soluble preparation of correspondingly lower activity. 4. It is concluded that together with the increase of ATPase activity, the ATP-dependent cold lability of membrane-bound F1-ATPase and the dislocation of ATPase inhibitor at non operative sites reveal the extent of ATPase complex disorganization.