How fast does the rotor in ATP synthase spin?

Question

I'm sure the exact frequency varies, but does anyone know roughly how many revolutions per minute / second the rotating center part makes?

Answer 1

According to "Resolution of distinct rotational substeps by submillisecond kinetic analysis of F1-ATPase" (Yasuda et al., Nature, 2001), ATPase rotates at 130 revolutions per second when saturated with ATP.

Answer 2

The rotation rates at various ATP concentrations obeyed the curve defined by a K m of ≈30 μM and a V max of ≈350 revolutions per second (21 000 revolutions per minute) at 37°C.

Some reported values of very high ATPase activities would predictrapid rotations such as bovine mitochondrial F1 (≈310 rps) (37), yeast mitochondrial F1 (≈280 rps) (38), and E. coli FoF1 (≈300 rps) (39). Much lower ATPase activities corresponding to 10 ≈ 100 rps were also reported in many papers. However, if a significant fraction of molecules in the bulk solution are in the ADP-Mg-inhibited state or other inactive states, as in the case of thermophilic FoF1, real ATPase activity specific for the working enzymes should be higher, and the rotation rates can be much faster. It is intriguing to learn whether these rapid rotations are really occurring in living cells.

These are excerpts from:

Ueno, H., Suzuki, T., Kinosita, K., & Yoshida, M. (2005). ATP-driven stepwise rotation of FoF1-ATP synthase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(5), 1333-1338. .