Purification and cryoelectron microscopy structure determination of human V-ATPase

Vesicular- or vacuolar-type adenosine triphosphatases (V-ATPases) are multi-component, ATP-driven proton pumps, which play important roles in many physiological processes by acidifying intracellular vesicles, organelles, and the extracellular milieu. Long-standing challenges in purifying mammalian V-ATPases have limited the biochemical and structural study of mammalian V-ATPase. Here, we provide a protocol for purifying milligrams of human V-ATPase and detail procedures for the reconstruction of its structure by cryo-EM. Our method can be applied to any biochemical and biophysical study of human V-ATPase. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Wang et al. (2020).