Abstract: Biological molecular motors play a main role in fundamental science in 21st century as a bridge between life science and nanotechnology. ATP synthase is one of the most sophisticated biological molecular motors. Though the investigation of ATP synthase has been carried out for over 60 years, breakthrough has not been made until the recent 10 years, thanks to the interdisciplinary studies of physicists, biochemists and mathematicians, and the development of single molecule technology. This review has presented the major achievements in this field so far and current issues as well.

Key words: molecular motor, ATP synthase, binding change mechanism, motility, mechanochemical coupling