Figure 6. c-ring rotation is powered by the potential gradient between the lumenal channel (pink) and matrix channel (light blue).

The c-ring (yellow) and the membrane-intrinsic four-helix bundle of subunit a (blue) drawn to scale as seen from the matrix. Protons (red) pass from the crista lumen below the projection plane through the lumenal channel between H5 and H6 to protonate cGlu111 of c-subunit A, while c-subunit J is deprotonated by the higher pH of the matrix channel. The positively charged aArg239 is likely to interact with the deprotonated cGlu111 during its short passage to the lumenal channel. The lumenal and matrix channels approach one another to within 5–7 Å. A pmf of 200 mV between the closely spaced channels creates a local electrostatic field in the range of 40 million to 100 million V/m, depending on the protein dielectric. The field exerts a force on the deprotonated cGlu111 that results in net counter-clockwise rotation of the c-ring (grey arrow). Scale bar, 10 Å.