GroEL is a cylinder of two seven-subunit rings. Hydrophobic surfaces inside one ring bind a protein that has not folded. ATP and the lid protein GroES then close a chamber around the protein. The protein folds alone in that chamber, safe from aggregation. ATP hydrolysis then opens the lid again.
- Where
- Bacterial cytoplasm. Homologs work in mitochondria and chloroplasts of eukaryotes.
- Power
- ATP hydrolysis, seven molecules per ring per cycle