Identification of a mitochondrial ATP synthase–adenine nucleotide translocator complex in Leishmania

The ATP synthasome is a macromolecular complex consisting of ATP synthase, adenine nucleotide translocator and phosphate carrier. To determine if this complex is evolutionary old or young, we searched for its presence in Leishmania, a mitochondria containing protozoan which evolved from the main eukaryote line soon after eukaryotes split from prokaryotes. Sucrose gradient centrifugation showed that the distribution of ANT among the fractions coincided with the distribution of ATP synthase. In addition, ATP synthase co-precipitated with FLAG tagged and wild type adenine nucleotide translocator isolated with anti FLAG and anti adenine nucleotide translocator antibodies, respectively. These data indicate that the adenine nucleotide translocator interacted with the ATP synthase to form a stable structure referred to as the ATP synthasome. The presence of the ATP synthasome in Leishmania, an organism branching off the main line of eukaryotes early in the development of eukaryotes, as well as in higher eukaryotes suggests that the ATP synthasome is a phylogenetically ancient structure.