Dissecting the Thermodynamics of ATP Binding to GroEL One Nucleotide at a Time

[Image: see text] Variable-temperature electrospray ionization (vT-ESI) native mass spectrometry (nMS) is used to determine the thermodynamics for stepwise binding of up to 14 ATP molecules to the 801 kDa GroEL tetradecamer chaperonin complex. Detailed analysis reveals strong enthalpy–entropy compensation (EEC) for the ATP binding events leading to formation of GroEL–ATP(7) and GroEL–ATP(14) complexes. The observed variations in EEC and stepwise free energy changes of specific ATP binding are consistent with the well-established nested cooperativity model describing GroEL–ATP interactions, viz., intraring positive cooperativity and inter-ring negative cooperativity ( A. Dyachenko; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.2013, 110, 7235−723923589876). Entropy-driven ATP binding is to be expected for ligand-induced conformational changes of the GroEL tetradecamer, though the magnitude of the entropy change suggests that reorganization of GroEL-hydrating water molecules and/or expulsion of water from the GroEL cavity may also play key roles. The capability for determining complete thermodynamic signatures (ΔG, ΔH, and −TΔS) for individual ligand binding reactions for the large, nearly megadalton GroEL complex expands our fundamental view of chaperonin functional chemistry. Moreover, this work and related studies of protein–ligand interactions illustrate important new capabilities of vT-ESI-nMS for thermodynamic studies of protein interactions with ligands and other molecules such as proteins and drugs.