ATP synthase K+- and H+-flux drive ATP synthesis and enable mitochondrial K+-uniporter function
ATP synthase (F1Fo) synthesizes daily our bodys weight in ATP, whose production-rate can be transiently increased several-fold. Using purified mammalian F1Fo-reconstituted proteoliposomes and isolated mitochondria, we show that F1Fo utilizes both H+- and K+-transport (because of >106-fold K+ excess vs H+) to drive ATP synthesis with the H+:K+ permeability of ~106:1. F1Fo can be upregulated by endogenous survival-related proteins (Bcl-xL, Mcl-1) and synthetic molecules (diazoxide, pinacidil) to increase its chemo-mechanical efficiency via IF1. Increasing K+- and H+-driven ATP synthesis enables F1Fo to operate as a primary mitochondrial K+-uniporter regulating energy supply-demand matching, and as the recruitable mitochondrial KATP-channel that can limit ischemia-reperfusion injury. Isolated mitochondria in the presence of K+ can sustain ~3.5-fold higher ATP-synthesis-flux (vs K+ absence) driven by a 2.7:1 K+:H+ stoichiometry with unaltered OxPhos coupling. Excellent agreement between F1Fo single-molecule and intact-mitochondria experiments is consistent with K+-transport through ATP synthase driving a major fraction of ATP synthesis.