Jason C. Young

Pathways of chaperone-mediated protein folding in the cytosol

Cells are faced with the task of folding thousands of different polypeptides into a wide range of conformations. For many proteins, the folding process requires the action of molecular chaperones. In the cytosol of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, molecular chaperones of different structural classes form a network of pathways that can handle substrate polypeptides from the point of initial synthesis on ribosomes to the final stages of folding.

Molecular chaperones Hsp90 and Hsp70 deliver preproteins to the mitochondrial import receptor Tom70

The role of cytosolic factors in protein targeting to mitochondria is poorly understood. Here, we show that in mammals, the cytosolic chaperones Hsp90 and Hsp70 dock onto a specialized TPR domain in the import receptor Tom70 at the outer mitochondrial membrane. This interaction serves to deliver a set of preproteins to the receptor for subsequent membrane translocation dependent on the Hsp90 ATPase. Disruption of the chaperone/Tom70 recognition inhibits the import of these preproteins into mitochondria. In yeast, Hsp70 rather than Hsp90 is used in import, and Hsp70 docking is required for the formation of a productive preprotein/Tom70 complex. We outline a novel mechanism in which chaperones are recruited for a specific targeting event by a membrane-bound receptor.

Peripheral Protein Quality Control Removes Unfolded CFTR from the Plasma Membrane

Peripheral Quality Control Protein misfolding diseases often lead to the retention and degradation of important proteins within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Strategies to reduce the stringency of ER quality control that allow the proteins to carry on through the secretory pathway to reach their destination at the cell surface have shown some promise. Okiyoneda et al. (p. 805, published online 1 July; see the Perspective by Hutt and Balch) wanted to understand how, even if a protein reaches its destination, it may still be subjected to a second level of quality control and be cleared from the plasma membrane. Using functional small-interfering RNA screens in cells expressing the common cystic fibrosis mutation F508CFTR, the authors identified a pair of chaperones that promoted clearance of defective proteins from the plasma membrane. This peripheral quality-control step will also need to be overcome to increase the effectiveness of strategies to overcome protein misfolding disorders. Cells clear misfolded and damaged proteins from the cell surface, sometimes frustrating attempts to treat protein-folding diseases. Therapeutic efforts to restore biosynthetic processing of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator lacking the F508 residue (ΔF508CFTR) are hampered by ubiquitin-dependent lysosomal degradation of nonnative, rescued ΔF508CFTR from the plasma membrane. Here, functional small interfering RNA screens revealed the contribution of chaperones, cochaperones, and ubiquitin-conjugating and -ligating enzymes to the elimination of unfolded CFTR from the cell surface, as part of a peripheral protein quality-control system. Ubiquitination of nonnative CFTR was required for efficient internalization and lysosomal degradation. This peripheral protein quality-control mechanism probably participates in the preservation of cellular homeostasis by degrading damaged plasma membrane proteins that have escaped from the endoplasmic reticulum quality control or are generated by environmental stresses in situ.

Specific Binding of Tetratricopeptide Repeat Proteins to the C-terminal 12-kDa Domain of hsp90

The molecular chaperone hsp90 in the eukaryotic cytosol interacts with a variety of protein cofactors. Several of these cofactors have protein domains containing tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) motifs, which mediate binding to hsp90. Using a yeast two-hybrid screen, the 12-kDa C-terminal domain of human hsp90α (C90) was found to mediate the interaction of hsp90 with TPR-containing sequences from the hsp90 cofactors FKBP51/54 and FKBP52. In addition, the mitochondrial outer membrane protein hTOM34p was identified as a TPR-containing putative partner protein of hsp90. In experiments with purified proteins, the TPR-containing cofactor p60 (Hop) was shown to form stable complexes with hsp90. A deletion mutant of hsp90 lacking the C90 domain was unable to bind p60, whereas deletion of the ∼25-kDa N-terminal domain of hsp90 did not affect complex formation. Both p60 and FKBP52 bound specifically to the C90 domain fused to glutathione S-transferase and competed with each other for binding. In reticulocyte lysate, the C90 fusion protein recognized the TPR proteins p60, FKBP52, and Cyp40. Thus, our results identify the C90 domain as the specific binding site for a set of hsp90 cofactors having TPR domains.

Polypeptide release by Hsp90 involves ATP hydrolysis and is enhanced by the co‐chaperone p23

The molecular chaperone Hsp90 binds and hydrolyses ATP, but how this ATPase activity regulates the interaction of Hsp90 with a polypeptide substrate is not yet understood. Using the glucocorticoid receptor ligand binding domain as a substrate, we show that dissociation of Hsp90 from bound polypeptide depends on the Hsp90 ATPase and is blocked by geldanamycin, a specific ATPase inhibitor. The co‐chaperone p23 greatly stimulates Hsp90 substrate release with ATP, but not with the non‐hydrolysable nucleotides ATPγS or AMP‐PNP. Point mutants of Hsp90 with progressively lower ATPase rates are progressively slower in ATP‐dependent substrate release but are still regulated by p23. In contrast, ATPase‐inactive Hsp90 mutants release substrate poorly and show no p23 effect. These results outline an ATP‐driven cycle of substrate binding and release for Hsp90 which differs from that of other ATP‐driven chaperones. Conversion of the ATP state of Hsp90 to the ADP state through hydrolysis is required for efficient release of substrate polypeptide. p23 couples the ATPase activity to polypeptide dissociation and thus can function as a substrate release factor for Hsp90.

In vitro evidence that hsp90 contains two independent chaperone sites

Hsp90 is an abundant and constitutively expressed stress protein and molecular chaperone. Here we dissected human hsp90 into three major domains to identify the putative chaperone site at which hsp90 binds unfolded polypeptide. Surprisingly, both the N‐terminal and the C‐terminal domain of hsp90 prevent the aggregation of denatured polypeptides. The chaperone activity of the N‐domain is inhibited by geldanamycin, a specific inhibitor of hsp90‐mediated protein refolding. While both domains suppress protein aggregation, only the C‐domain binds an antigenic peptide derived from VSV G. Based on these results, hsp90 may be the first chaperone to contain two independent chaperone sites with differential specificity.

Mechanisms of the Hsp70 chaperone system.

Molecular chaperones of the Hsp70 family have diverse functions in cells. They assist the folding of newly synthesized and stress-denatured proteins, as well as the import of proteins into organelles, and the dissociation of aggregated proteins. The well-conserved Hsp70 chaperones are ATP dependent: binding and hydrolysis of ATP regulates their interactions with unfolded polypeptide substrates, and ATPase cycling is necessary for their function. All cellular functions of Hsp70 chaperones use the same mechanism of ATP-driven polypeptide binding and release. The Hsp40 co-chaperones stimulate ATP hydrolysis by Hsp70 and the type 1 Hsp40 proteins are conserved from Escherichia coli to humans. Various nucleotide exchange factors also promote the Hsp70 ATPase cycle. Recent advances have added to our understanding of the Hsp70 mechanism at a molecular level.

Cofactor Tpr2 combines two TPR domains and a J domain to regulate the Hsp70/Hsp90 chaperone system

In the eukaryotic cytosol, Hsp70 and Hsp90 cooperate with various co‐chaperone proteins in the folding of a growing set of substrates, including the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Here, we analyse the function of the co‐chaperone Tpr2, which contains two chaperone‐binding TPR domains and a DnaJ homologous J domain. In vivo, an increase or decrease in Tpr2 expression reduces GR activation, suggesting that Tpr2 is required at a narrowly defined expression level. As shown in vitro, Tpr2 recognizes both Hsp70 and Hsp90 through its TPR domains, and its J domain stimulates ATP hydrolysis and polypeptide binding by Hsp70. Furthermore, unlike other co‐chaperones, Tpr2 induces ATP‐independent dissociation of Hsp90 but not of Hsp70 from chaperone–substrate complexes. Excess Tpr2 inhibits the Hsp90‐dependent folding of GR in cell lysates. We propose a novel mechanism in which Tpr2 mediates the retrograde transfer of substrates from Hsp90 onto Hsp70. At normal levels substoichiometric to Hsp90 and Hsp70, this activity optimizes the function of the multichaperone machinery.

Prediction of Novel Bag-1 Homologs Based on Structure/Function Analysis Identifies Snl1p as an Hsp70 Co-chaperone in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Polypeptide binding by the chaperone Hsp70 is regulated by its ATPase activity, which is itself regulated by co-chaperones including the Bag domain nucleotide exchange factors. Here, we tested the functional contribution of residues in the Bag domain of Bag-1M that contact Hsp70. Two point mutations, E212A and E219A, partially reduced co-chaperone activity, whereas the point mutation R237A completely abolished activity in vitro. Based on the strict positional conservation of the Arg-237 residue, several Bag domain proteins were predicted from various eukaryotic genomes. One candidate, Snl1p from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, was confirmed as a Bag domain co-chaperone. Snl1p bound specifically to the Ssa and Ssb forms of yeast cytosolic Hsp70, as revealed by two-hybrid screening and co-precipitations from yeast lysate. In vitro, Snl1p also recognized mammalian Hsp70 and regulated the Hsp70 ATPase activity identically to Bag-1M. Point mutations in Snl1p that disrupted the conserved residues Glu-112 and Arg-141, equivalent to Glu-212 and Arg-237 in Bag-1M, abolished the interaction with Hsp70 proteins. In live yeast, mutated Snl1p could not substitute for wild-type Snl1p in suppressing the lethal defect caused by truncation of the Nup116p nuclear pore component. Thus, Snl1p is the first Bag domain protein identified in S. cerevisiae, and its interaction with Hsp70 is essential for biological activity.

Hsp90 Functions in the Targeting and Outer Membrane Translocation Steps of Tom70-mediated Mitochondrial Import

The Tom70 import receptor on the mitochondrial outer membrane specifically recognizes Hsp90 and Hsc70, a critical step for the import of mitochondrial preproteins, the targeting of which depends on these cytosolic chaperones. To analyze the role of Hsp90 in mitochondrial import, the effects of the Hsp90 inhibitors geldanamycin and novobiocin were compared. Geldanamycin occludes the N-terminal ATP-binding site of Hsp90, whereas novobiocin targets the C-terminal region of the chaperone. Here, novobiocin was found to inhibit preprotein import and, in particular, targeting to the purified cytosolic fragment of Tom70. Hsp90 cross-linking to preprotein and coprecipitation of Hsp90 with Tom70 were both impaired by novobiocin. Overall, novobiocin treatment increased preprotein aggregation, contributing to reduced import competence. In contrast, geldanamycin had no apparent effect on preprotein interactions with Hsp90, formation of preprotein-chaperone complexes, Hsp90 docking onto Tom70, or preprotein association with the outer membrane. Instead, geldanamycin impaired formation of preprotein import intermediates at the outer membrane. This suggests a novel active role for Hsp90 in import steps subsequent to Tom70 targeting. Our results outline the mechanisms of Hsp90 function in preprotein targeting and transport.