Time-resolved Mn2+–NO and NO–NO distance measurements reveal that catalytic asymmetry regulates alternating access in an ABC transporter

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters shuttle diverse substrates across biological membranes. Transport is often achieved through a transition between an inward-facing (IF) and an outward-facing (OF) conformation of the transmembrane domains (TMDs). Asymmetric nucleotide-binding sites (NBSs) are present among several ABC subfamilies and their functional role remains elusive. Here we addressed this question using concomitant NO–NO, Mn2+–NO, and Mn2+–Mn2+ pulsed electron-electron double resonance spectroscopy of TmrAB in a time resolved manner. This type IV ABC transporter undergoes a reversible transition in the presence of ATP with a significantly faster forward transition. The impaired degenerate NBS stably binds Mn2+–ATP and Mn2+ is preferentially released at the active consensus NBS. ATP hydrolysis at the consensus NBS considerably accelerates reverse transition. Both NBSs fully open during each conformational cycle and the d-NBS may regulate the overall kinetics of this process.