Giant Acceleration of Diffusion Observed in a Single-Molecule Experiment on F(1)-ATPase.

: The giant acceleration (GA) of diffusion is a universal phenomenon predicted by the theoretical analysis given by Reimann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 010602 (2001)]. Here we apply the theory of the GA of diffusion to a single-molecule experiment on a rotary motor protein, F(1), which is a component of F(o)F(1) adenosine triphosphate synthase. We discuss the energetic properties of F(1) and identify a high energy barrier of the rotary potential to be 20k(B)T, with the condition that the adenosine diphosphates are tightly bound to the F(1) catalytic sites. To conclude, the GA of diffusion is useful for measuring energy barriers in nonequilibrium and single-molecule experiments.