Modulation of in vivo HSP70 chaperone activity by Hip and Bag-1

The chaperone activity of Hsp70 is influenced by the activities of both positive and negative regulatory proteins. In this study, we provide first time evidence for the stimulating effect of the Hsp70-interacting protein Hip on the chaperone activity in the mammalian cytosol. Overexpressing Hip enhances the refolding of the heat-inactivated reporter enzyme luciferase expressed in hamster lung fibroblasts. Also, it protects luciferase from irreversible denaturation under conditions of ATP depletion. We demonstrate that these stimulating actions depend on both the presence of the central Hsp70-binding site and the amino-terminal homo-oligomerization domain of Hip. The carboxyl terminus (amino acids 257-368) comprising the 7 GGMP repeats (Hsc70-like domain) and the Sti1p-like domain are dispensable for the Hip-mediated stimulation of the cellular chaperone activity. Bag-1, which inhibits the Hsp70 chaperone activity both in vitro and in vivo, was found to compete with the stimulatory action of Hip. In cells overexpressing both Hip and Bag-1, the inhibitory effects of Bag-1 were found to be dominant. Our results reveal that in vivo a complex level of regulation of the cellular chaperone activity exists that not only depends on the concentration of Hsp70 but also on the concentration, affinity, and intracellular localization of positive and negative coregulators. As the Hsp70 chaperone machine is also protective in the absence of ATP, our data also demonstrate that cycling between an ATP/ADP-bound state is not absolutely required for the Hsp70 chaperone machine to be active in vivo.     

The diverse members of the mammalian HSP70 machine show distinct chaperone-like activities

Humans contain many HSP (heat-shock protein) 70/HSPA- and HSP40/DNAJ-encoding genes and most of the corresponding proteins are localized in the cytosol. To test for possible functional differences and/or substrate specificity, we assessed the effect of overexpression of each of these HSPs on refolding of heat-denatured luciferase and on the suppression of aggregation of a non-foldable polyQ (polyglutamine)-expanded Huntingtin fragment. Overexpressed chaperones that suppressed polyQ aggregation were found not to be able to stimulate luciferase refolding. Inversely, chaperones that supported luciferase refolding were poor suppressors of polyQ aggregation. This was not related to client specificity itself, as the polyQ aggregation inhibitors often also suppressed heat-induced aggregation of luciferase. Surprisingly, the exclusively heat-inducible HSPA6 lacks both luciferase refolding and polyQ aggregation-suppressing activities. Furthermore, whereas overexpression of HSPA1A protected cells from heat-induced cell death, overexpression of HSPA6 did not. Inversely, siRNA (small interfering RNA)-mediated blocking of HSPA6 did not impair the development of heat-induced thermotolerance. Yet, HSPA6 has a functional substrate-binding domain and possesses intrinsic ATPase activity that is as high as that of the canonical HSPA1A when stimulated by J-proteins. In vitro data suggest that this may be relevant to substrate specificity, as purified HSPA6 could not chaperone heat-unfolded luciferase but was able to assist in reactivation of heat-unfolded p53. So, even within the highly sequence-conserved HSPA family, functional differentiation is larger than expected, with HSPA6 being an extreme example that may have evolved to maintain specific critical functions under conditions of severe stress.     

alpha-Crystallin chaperone-like activity and membrane binding in age-related cataracts.

alpha-Crystallin, the major protein component of the vertebrate lens, is thought to play a critical role in the maintenance of transparency through its ability to inhibit stress-induced protein aggregation. However, during aging and cataract formation the amount of membrane-bound alpha-crystallin increases significantly while high molecular weight complexes (HMWCs) comprised of alpha-crystallin and other lens crystallins accumulate. These and other recent data suggest a possible link between cataract formation, the formation of high molecular weight alpha-crystallin aggregates, and the progressive increase in membrane association of alpha-crystallin. To better understand these processes, we characterized the chaperone-like activity (CLA) and subunit exchange of membrane bound alpha-crystallin. In addition, we measured the membrane binding properties of in vitro constituted HMWCs to understand the mechanism by which increased alpha-crystallin is bound to the membrane of old and cataractous lens cells in vivo. Membrane-associated alpha-crystallin complexes have measurably reduced CLA compared to complexes in solution; however, membrane binding does not alter the time required for alpha-crystallin complexes to reach subunit exchange equilibrium. In addition, HMWCs prepared in vitro have a profoundly increased membrane binding capacity as compared to native alpha-crystallin. These results are consistent with a model in which increased membrane binding of alpha-crystallin is an integral step in the pathogenesis of many forms of cataracts.     

High-molecular-mass multicatalytic proteinase complexes produced by the nitrogen-fixing actinomycete Frankia strain BR.

A major-high-molecular mass proteinase and seven latent minor proteinases were found in cell extracts and in concentrates of culture medium from Frankia sp. strain BR after nondenaturing electrophoresis in mixed gelatin-polyacrylamide gels. All of these complexes showed multicatalytic properties. Their molecular masses and their sedimentation coefficients varied from 1,300 kDa (28S) to 270 kDa (12S). The electroeluted 1,300-kDa proteinase complex dissociated into 11 low-molecular-mass proteinases (40 to 19 kDa) after sodium dodecyl sulfate activation at 30 degrees C and electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. All of these electroeluted proteinases hydrolyzed N-carbobenzoxy-Pro-Ala-Gly-Pro-4-methoxy-beta- naphthylamide, D-Val-Leu-Arg-4-methoxy-beta-naphthylamide, and Boc-Val-Pro-Arg-4-methyl-7-coumarylamide, whereas Suc-Leu-Leu-Val-Tyr-4-methyl-7-coumarylamide was cleaved only by the six lower-molecular-mass proteinases (27.5 to 19 kDa). Examination by electron microscopy of uranyl acetate-stained, electroeluted 1,300- and 650-kDa intracellular and extracellular proteinase complexes showed ring-shaped and cylindrical particles (10 to 11 nm in diameter, 15 to 16 nm long) similar to those of eukaryotic prosomes and proteasomes. Polyclonal antibodies raised against rat skeletal muscle proteasomes cross-reacted with all of the high-molecular-mass proteinase complexes and, after denaturation of the electroeluted 1,300-kDa band, with polypeptides of 35 to 38, 65, and 90 kDa. Electrophoresis of the activated cell extracts under denaturing conditions revealed 11 to 17 gelatinases from 40 to 19 kDa, including the 11 proteinases of the 1,300-kDa proteinase complex. The inhibition pattern of these proteinases is complex. Thiol-reactive compounds and 1-10-phenanthroline strongly inhibited all of the proteinases, but inhibitors against serine-type proteinases were also effective for most of them.     

HSP70 and genomic stability

The 70 kDa heat shock proteins (HSP70s) were initially identified by their elevated expression following hyperthermic cell stress, however, these highly conserved proteins also protect critical cellular functions from a wider range of important environmental and physiological stresses. At least one result of HSP70 expression is inhibition of stress induced caspase activation as well as downstream events in the apoptotic cell death pathway. HSP70 have been reported upregulated in tumor cells, selective inhibition of such proteins might be valuable approach to treat cancer. A recent study revealed that cells with inactivated HSP70 displayed telomere instability and high frequency of spontaneous chromosomal aberrations, indicating a possible role for HSP70 proteins in the maintenance of genomic stability.     

Immunoregulation by antigen/antibody complexes. I. Specific immunosuppression induced in vivo with immune complexes formed in antibody excess

Specific immune complexes, prepared at different ratios of antibody to antigen, were examined for their effects on the antibody response of BALB/c mice to the cell wall polysaccharide antigen (PnC) extracted from Streptococcus pneumonia R36a. Mice immunized with complexes formed in antigen excess developed a PnC-specific antibody response that was equivalent to that in mice injected with free antigen. On the other hand, mice injected with complexes formed in antibody excess developed very little PnC-specific antibody. Furthermore, administration of immune complexes (formed in antibody excess) resulted in suppression of the response to an immunogenic dose of PnC given concurrently or 1 day after injection of immune complexes but not when the antigen was given 1 day before injection of the immune complexes. Injections of free antibody (TEPC-15) also resulted in suppression of the response to antigenic challenge; however, suppression was greatest when the antibody was injected concurrently with the antigen, suggesting that the suppression was mediated through the formation of immune complexes in vivo. The suppression appears to be specific for the antigen (PnC), since in mice injected with TEPC-15/PnC complexes (formed in antibody excess) and challenged with PnC coupled to sheep RBC, only the response to PnC was suppressed.     

Modulation of HSP70 GlcNAc-directed lectin activity by glucose availability and utilization

It is well-accepted that protein quality control (occurring either after protein synthesis or after cell damage) is mainly ensured by HSP, but the mechanism by which HSP decides whether the protein will be degraded or not is poorly understood. Within this framework, it has been hypothesized that O-GlcNAc, a cytosolic and nuclear-specific glycosylation whose functions remain unclear, could take a part in the protection of proteins against degradation by modifying both the proteins themselves and the proteasome. Because the synthesis of O-GlcNAc is tightly correlated to glucose metabolism and Hsp70 was endowed with GlcNAc-binding property, we studied the relationship between GlcNAc-binding activity of both Hsp70 and Hsc70 (the nucleocytoplasmic forms of HSP70 family) and glucose availability and utilization. We thus demonstrated that low glucose concentration, inhibition of glucose utilization with 2DG, or inhibition of glucose transport with CytB led to an increase of Hsp70 and Hsc70 lectin activities. Interestingly, the response of Hsp70 and Hsc70 lectin activities toward variations of glucose concentration appeared different: Hsp70 lost its lectin activity when glucose concentration was >5 mM (i.e., physiological glucose concentration) in contrast to Hsc70 that exhibited a maximal lectin activity for glucose concentration approximately 5 mM and at high glucose concentrations. This work also demonstrates that HSP70 does not regulate its GlcNAc-binding properties through its own O-GlcNAc glycosylation.     

A nuclear-localized HSP70 confers thermoprotective activity and drought-stress tolerance on plants

To investigate the function of nuclear-localized plant HSP70, we used NtHSP70-1 isolated from Nicotiana tabacum. The subcellular localization of NtHSP70-1 was identified by fluorescence microscopy for NtHSP70-1/GFP or smGFP fusion proteins in onion epidermal cells, obtained using particle gun bombardment. To analyze the drought-stress tolerance and thermoprotective role of NtHSP70-1, we obtained transgenic tobacco plants that constitutively expressed elevated levels of NtHSP70-1 as well as transgenic plants containing either the vector alone or else having NtHSP70-1 in the antisense orientation. From analysis for genomic DNA in transgenic seedlings after heat stress, NtHSP70-1 helps to prevent the fragmentation and degradation of nuclear DNA during heat stress. In addition, seedlings constitutively overexpressing NtHSP70-1 grew to be healthy plants, whereas transgenic vector or antisense seedlings resulted in death after heat-/drought-stress.     

Biofilms formed by nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae in vivo contain both double-stranded DNA and type IV pilin protein

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) strains are members of the normal human nasopharyngeal flora, as well as frequent opportunistic pathogens of both the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Recently, it has been shown that NTHI can form biofilms both in vitro and in vivo. NTHI strains within in vitro-formed biofilms differentially express both epitopes of lipooligosaccharide (LOS) and the outer membrane proteins P2, P5, and P6, whereas those generated either in a 96-well plate assay in vitro or in a mammalian host have been shown to incorporate a specific glycoform of sialylated LOS within the biofilm matrix. While DNA has been identified as a key component of the biofilm matrix formed in vitro by several bacterial pathogens, here we demonstrate for the first time that in addition to sialylated LOS, the biofilm formed by NTHI in vivo contains both type IV pilin protein and a significant amount of double-stranded DNA. The DNA appeared to be arranged in a dense interlaced meshwork of fine strands as well as in individual thicker "ropes" that span water channels, suggesting that DNA could be imparting structural stability to the biofilm produced by NTHI in vivo. The presence of type IV pilin protein both appearing as small aggregates within the biofilm matrix and tracking along DNA strands supports our observations which showed that type IV pili are expressed by NTHI during experimental otitis media when these bacteria form a biofilm in the middle ear space.     

HSP27 and HSP70: potentially oncogenic apoptosis inhibitors

Stress or heat shock proteins (HSPs) such as HSP27 and HSP70 are expressed in response to a wide variety of physiological and environmental insults including heat, reactive oxygen species or anticancer drugs. Their overexpression allows cells to survive to otherwise lethal conditions. Several different mechanisms may account for the cytoprotective activity of HSP27 and HSP70. First, both proteins are powerful chaperones. Second, both inhibit key effectors of the apoptotic machinery including the apoptosome, the caspase activation complex (both HSP27 and HSP70), and apoptosis inducing factor (only HSP70). Third, they both play a role in the proteasome-mediated degradation of apoptosis-regulatory proteins. HSP27 and HSP70 may participate in oncogenesis, as suggested by the fact that overexpression of heat shock proteins can increase the tumorigenic potential of tumor cells. The down-regulation or selective inhibition of HSP70 might constitute a valuable strategy for the treatment of cancer.     

HSP27 and HSP70: Potentially Oncogenic Apoptosis Inhibitors

Stress or heat shock proteins (HSPs) such as HSP27 and HSP70 are expressed in response to a wide variety of physiological and environmental insults including heat, reactive oxygen species or anticancer drugs. Their overexpression allows cells to survive to otherwise lethal conditions. Several different mechanisms may account for the cytoprotective activity of HSP27 and HSP70. First, both proteins are powerful chaperones. Second, both inhibit key effectors of the apoptotic machinery including the apoptosome, the caspase activation complex (both HSP27 and HSP70), and apoptosis inducing factor (only HSP70). Third, they both play a role in the proteasome-mediated degradation of apoptosis-regulatory proteins. HSP27 and HSP70 may participate in oncogenesis, as suggested by the fact that overexpression of heat shock proteins can increase the tumorigenic potential of tumor cells. The down-regulation or selective inhibition of HSP70 might constitute a valuable strategy for the treatment of cancer.     

Cloning of the HSP70 gene from Halobacterium marismortui: relatedness of archaebacterial HSP70 to its eubacterial homologs and a model for the evolution of the HSP70 gene.

Heat shock induces the synthesis of a set of proteins in Halobacterium marismortui whose molecular sizes correspond to the known major heat shock proteins. By using the polymerase chain reaction and degenerate oligonucleotide primers for conserved regions of the 70-kDa heat shock protein (HSP70) family, we have successfully cloned and sequenced a gene fragment containing the entire coding sequence for HSP70 from H. marismortui. HSP70 from H. marismortui shows between 44 and 47% amino acid identity with various eukaryotic HSP70s and between 51 and 58% identity with its eubacterial and archaebacterial homologs. On the basis of a comparison of all available HSP70 sequences, we have identified a number of unique sequence signatures in this protein family that provide a clear distinction between eukaryotic organisms and prokaryotic organisms (archaebacteria and eubacteria). The archaebacterial (viz., H. marismortui and Methanosarcina mazei) HSP70s have been found to contain all of the signature sequences characteristic of eubacteria (particularly the gram-positive bacteria), which suggests a close evolutionary relationship between these groups. In addition, detailed analyses of HSP70 sequences that we have carried out have revealed a number of additional novel features of the HSP70 protein family. These include (i) the presence of an insertion of about 25 to 27 amino acids in the N-terminal quadrants of all known eukaryotic and prokaryotic HSP70s except those from archaebacteria and the gram-positive group of bacteria, (ii) significant sequence similarity in HSP70 regions comprising its first and second quadrants from organisms lacking the above insertion, (iii) highly significant similarity between a protein, MreB, of Escherichia coli and the N-terminal half of HSP70s, (iv) significant sequence similarity between the N-terminal quadrant of HSP70 (from gram-positive bacteria and archaebacteria) and the m-type thioredoxin of plant chloroplasts. To account for these and other observations, a model for the evolution of HSP70 proteins involving gene duplication is proposed. The model proposes that HSP70 from archaebacteria (H. marismortui and M. mazei) and the gram-positive group of bacteria constitutes the ancestral form of the protein and that all other HSP70s (viz., other eubacteria as well as eukaryotes) containing the insert have evolved from this ancient protein.     

Lamina-associated polypeptide 2alpha forms complexes with heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsc70 in vivo

Lamina-associated polypeptide 2α (LAP2α), one of the alternatively spliced isoforms of the LAP2 gene, is a nucleoplasmic protein which forms oligomers and presumably associates to chromosomes via the LEM- and LEM-like regions. To characterize components of the LAP2α-containing complexes, we have expressed the α-specific C-terminal domain of LAP2α in HeLa cells and, after immunopurification, found that the heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsc70 reproducibly co-purified with this domain. Association between endogenous LAP2α and Hsp70 in non-transfected cells was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation. The association was not mediated by the retinoblastoma protein.     

Template activity of complexes formed between bacteriophage f2 RNA and coat protein.

Formation of complexes between f2 RNA polymerase cistron was partially inhibited, some RNA and coat protein was studied using salt conditions which are optimum for phage protein synthesis. In this ionic environment, coat protein precipitation can be prevented by sulfhydryl group-protecting agents. Complexes formed at different protein-RNA input molar ratios were isolated and tested for template activity in an in vitro protein synthesizing system. Simultaneously, the number of protein molecules bound per RNA strand in such complexes was measured by the membrane (Millipore) filtration technique. Under conditions in which translation of the RNA strands were complexed with six molecules of coat protein, whereas some remained unbound. Strong inhibition of the translation of the RNA polymerase cistron was observed when each of the RNA strands present in the mixture was associated with six molecules of coat protein.     

Exercise-induced elevation of HSP70 is intensity dependent.

Exercise induces expression of the protective heat shock protein, HSP70, in striated muscle. To characterize the relationship between induction of this protein and exercise intensity in muscles exhibiting different recruitment patterns, male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to a sedentary control or one of seven exercise groups for which treadmill running speed varied between 15 and 33 m/min (n = 8/group). Twenty-four hours after a single 60-min exercise bout, hearts, red and white portions of the vastus (RV and WV, respectively) muscles, and soleus (Sol) muscles were harvested and analyzed for both relative and absolute HSP70 content. Cardiac HSP70 was significantly elevated only when animals were exercised at 24 m/min and beyond. Similarly, HSP70 was elevated in RV at running speeds above 24 m/min but did not increase in WV until 27 m/min. In contrast, HSP70 content was initially elevated in the Sol but subsequently declined at the highest running speeds. The observed patterns of HSP70 expression in skeletal muscle were in general accordance with known muscle recruitment patterns and suggest that alterations in muscle loading, resulting from changes in exercise intensity, are an important component of exercise-induced increases in HSP70 content.     

Eye lens alphaA- and alphaB-crystallin: complex stability versus chaperone-like activity.

The major lens protein alpha-crystallin is composed of two related types of subunits, alphaA- and alphaB-crystallin, of which the former is essentially lens-restricted, while the latter also occurs in various other tissues. With regard to their respective chaperone capacities, it has been reported that homomultimeric alphaA-crystallin complexes perform better in preventing thermal aggregation of proteins, while alphaB-crystallin complexes protect more efficiently against reduction-induced aggregation of proteins. Here, we demonstrate that this seeming discrepancy is solved when the reduction assay is performed at increasing temperatures: above 50 degrees C alphaA- performs better than alphaB-crystallin also in this assay. This inversion in protective capacity might relate to the greater resistance of alphaA-crystallin to heat denaturation. Infrared spectroscopy, however, revealed that this is not due to a higher thermostability of alphaA-crystallin's secondary structure. Also the accessible hydrophobic surfaces do not account for the chaperoning differences of alphaA- and alphaB-crystallin, since regardless of the experimental temperature alphaB-crystallin displays a higher hydrophobicity. It is argued that the greater complex stability of alphaA-crystallin, as evident upon urea denaturation, and the higher chaperone capacity of alphaB-crystallin at physiological temperatures reflect the evolutionary compromise to obtain an optimal functioning of heteromeric alpha-crystallin as a lens protein.