ATP hydrolysis in F1-ATPase Why is F1Fo-ATP synthase so
important? F1Fo-ATP synthase, or ATP synthase for short, is one
of the most abundant proteins in every organism. It is
responsible for synthesizing the molecule adenosine tri-
phosphate (ATP), the cells’ energy currency. ATP is depicted in
Fig. 1 and used to power and sustain virtually all cellular
processes needed to survive and reproduce. Even when at rest,
the human body metabolizes more than half its body weight in ATP
per day, this figure rising to many times the body weight under
conditions of physical activity. What do we know about F1Fo-ATP
synthase? Researchers have been trying to uncover the "secret"
behind ATP synthase’s very efficient mode of operation for quite
some time. Unfortunately, even after more than 30 years of
study, we still don’t fully understand how F1Fo-ATPase really
works. The protein consists of two coupled rotary molecular
motors, called Fo and F1, respectively, the first one being
membrane embedded and the latter one being so