The dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-binding protein of the mitochondrial ATPase complex from Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Identification and isolation.

Incubation of mitochondria from Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae with the radioactive ATPase inhibitor [14C]dicyclohexylcarbodiimide results in the irreversible and rather specific labelling of a low-molecular-weight polypeptide. This dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-binding protein is identical with the smallest subunit (Mr 8000) of the mitochondrial ATPase complex, and it occurs as oligomer, probably as hexamer, in the enzyme protein. The dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-binding protein is extracted from whole mitochondria with neutral chloroform/methanol both in the free and in the inhibitor-modified form. In Neurospora and yeast, this extraction is highly selective and the protein is obtained in homogeneous form when the mitochondria have been prewashed with certain organic solvents. The bound dicyclohexylcarbodiimide label is enriched in the purified protein up to 50-fold compared to whole mitochondria. Based on the amino acid analysis, the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-binding protein from Neurospora and yeast consists of at least 81 and 76 residues, respectively. The content of hydrophobic residues is extremely high. Histidine and tryptophan are absent. The N-terminal amino acid is tyrosine in Neurospora and formylmethionine in yeast.