Semiquinone intermediates are involved in the energy coupling mechanism of E. coli complex I

•Three semiquinone species in E. coli complex I are resolved by EPR analysis.•Biochemical/biophysical features of each semiquinone species are studied.•We compare semiquinone features between the wild-type and the ΔNuoL mutant.•The fast relaxing SQNf and slow relaxing SQNs are likely involved in energy coupling.

Complex I (NADH:quinone oxidoreductase) is central to cellular aerobic energy metabolism, and its deficiency is involved in many human mitochondrial diseases. Complex I translocates protons across the membrane using electron transfer energy. Semiquinone (SQ) intermediates appearing during catalysis are suggested to be key for the coupling mechanism in complex I. However, the existence of SQ has remained controversial due to the extreme difficulty in detecting unstable and low intensity SQ signals. Here, for the first time with Escherichia coli complex I reconstituted in proteoliposomes, we successfully resolved and characterized three distinct SQ species by EPR. These species include: fast-relaxing SQ (SQNf) with P1/2 (half-saturation power level) > 50 mW and a wider linewidth (12.8 G); slow-relaxing SQ (SQNs) with P1/2 = 2–3 mW and a 10 G linewidth; and very slow-relaxing SQ (SQNvs) with P1/2 = ~ 0.1 mW and a 7.5 G linewidth. The SQNf signals completely disappeared in the presence of the uncoupler gramicidin D or squamotacin, a potent E. coli complex I inhibitor. The pH dependency of the SQNf signals correlated with the proton-pumping activities of complex I. The SQNs signals were insensitive to gramicidin D, but sensitive to squamotacin. The SQNvs signals were insensitive to both gramicidin D and squamotacin. Our deuterium exchange experiments suggested that SQNf is neutral, while SQNs and SQNvs are anion radicals. The SQNs signals were lost in the ΔNuoL mutant missing transporter module subunits NuoL and NuoM. The roles and relationships of the SQ intermediates in the coupling mechanism are discussed.