Posttranslational protein translocation across the endoplasmic reticulum membrane of yeast requires a seven-component transmembrane complex (the Sec complex) in collaboration with the lumenal Kar2 protein (Kar2p). A translocation substrate was initially bound to the cytosolic face of the purified Sec complex in a signal-sequence-dependent but Kar2p- and nucleotide-independent manner. In a subsequent reaction, in which Kar2p interacted with the lumenal face of the Sec complex and hydrolyzed adenosine triphosphate, the substrate moved through a channel formed by the Sec complex and was released at the lumenal end. Movement through the channel occurred in detergent solution in the absence of a lipid bilayer.