Mitochondrial ATP synthase: cellular power generator, determinant of mitochondrial cristae formation, a site linked to human diseases

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Energy from the sun is entrapped by photosynthesis and stored in high energy compounds that we consume in food. The energy is released by controlled burning in the mitochondria in the cells of our bodies, and stored in the high energy compound adenosine triphosphate, ATP, the fuel of biology. ATP is made in the mitochondria inside our cells. They are “power stations” full of millions of molecular turbines, the ATP synthases that rotate like man-made turbines and churn out ATP in massive quantities.We understand how these molecular turbines work, and how rotation is generated. Now we want to understand how the activity of the mammalian enzyme is regulated, how it is put together from nineteen individual constituent proteins, and the impact on the ultrastructure of the cristae of removing individual subunits.