George Oster,
UC Berkeley Departments of
Environmental Science, Policy and
Management; and Molecular and Cell Biology
``The world's smallest rotary motor''
April 29, 1999
The universal fuel in cells is ATP. The enzyme that manufactures ATP,
called ATP synthase, is the most remarkable of all molecular
machines. It can use a proton gradient to produce ATP, or it can use
ATP as fuel to pump protons. In both modes it operates as a rotary
molecular motor. A mathematical model can explain quantitatively how
this protein works.