Figure 2.

The Clp complex consists of unfolding and protease chambers that function together in the presence of a suitable substrate. The substrate, often with a degron tag, binds to the axial pore in the unfoldase domain and is spooled into the unfoldase compartment by the ATPase components (ClpC, ClpE, ClpX or ClpY), using energy from ATP binding and hydrolysis. From here, the unfolded substrate is channelled to the protease chamber where proteolysis is carried out by the partner protease, ClpP or ClpQ.