Acid shock proteins of Escherichia coli

Synthesis of total cellular proteins of Escherichia coli was studied after transfer of cultures from pH 6.9 to pH 4.3. Proteins induced by such an external pH shift down were identified by mono- and bi-dimensional electrophoresis. 30 to 45 min after an acid shift, a group of at least sixteen polypeptides was markedly induced. Four of these polypeptides corresponded to the well known heat shock proteins GroEL, DnaK, HtpG and HtpM. Their pH induction was RpoH-dependent. Three other pH-induced proteins were previously identified as stress proteins induced either by osmolarity or aerobiosis or low temperature (proteins 32 (defined in this paper), C70.0 and C62.7). Seven other proteins were specifically induced after an acid shift and were called acid shock proteins (ASP). The induction of one of these proteins was RpoH-dependent, whereas that of others was RpoH-independent.     

IbpA the small heat shock protein from Escherichia coli forms fibrils in the absence of its cochaperone IbpB

Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) associate with aggregated proteins, changing their physical properties in such a way that chaperone mediated disaggregation becomes much more efficient. In Escherichia coli two small Hsps, IbpA and IbpB, exist. They are 48% identical at the amino acid level, yet their roles in stabilisation of protein aggregates are quite distinct. Here we analysed the biochemical properties of IbpA. We found that IbpA assembles into protofilaments which in turn form mature fibrils. Such fibrils are atypical for sHsps. Interaction of IbpA with either its cochaperone IbpB or an aggregated substrate blocks IbpA fibril formation.

Structured summary

MINT-7876715: ibpA (uniprotkb:P0C054) and ibpA (uniprotkb:P0C054) bind (MI:0407) by molecular sieving (MI:0071)MINT-7888427: ibpB (uniprotkb:P0C058) and ibpB (uniprotkb:P0C058) bind (MI:0407) by molecular sieving (MI:0071)MINT-7888448: ibpA (uniprotkb:P0C054) and ibpA (uniprotkb:P0C054) bind (MI:0407) by electron microscopy (MI:0040)MINT-7888434: ibpB (uniprotkb:P0C058) and ibpB (uniprotkb:P0C058) bind (MI:0407) by electron microscopy (MI:0040)MINT-7888459: ibpA (uniprotkb:P0C054) and ibpA (uniprotkb:P0C054) bind (MI:0407) by fluorescence microscopy (MI:0416)     

Differential degradation for small heat shock proteins IbpA and IbpB is synchronized in Escherichia coli: Implications for their functional cooperation in substrate refolding

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs), as a conserved family of ATP-independent molecular chaperones, are known to bind non-native substrate proteins and facilitate the substrate refolding in cooperation with ATP-dependent chaperones (e.g., DnaK and ClpB). However, how different sHSPs function in coordination is poorly understood. Here we report that IbpA and IbpB, the two sHSPs of Escherichia coli, are coordinated by synchronizing their differential in vivo degradation. Whereas the individually expressed IbpA and IbpB are respectively degraded slowly and rapidly in cells cultured under both heat shock and normal conditions, their simultaneous expression leads to a synchronized degradation at a moderate rate. Apparently, such synchronization is linked to their hetero-oligomerization and cooperation in binding substrate proteins. In addition, truncation of the flexible N- and C-terminal tails dramatically suppresses the IbpB degradation, and somehow accelerates the IbpA degradation. In view of these in vivo data, we propose that the synchronized degradation for IbpA and IbpB are crucial for their synergistic promoting effect on DnaK/ClpB-mediated substrate refolding, conceivably via the formation of IbpA–IbpB-substrate complexes. This scenario may be common for different sHSPs that interact with each other in cells.     

Escherichia coli small heat shock proteins, IbpA and IbpB, protect enzymes from inactivation by heat and oxidants.

To examine functions of two small heat shock proteins of Escherichia coli, IbpA and IbpB, we constructed His-IbpA and His-IbpB, in which a polyhistidine tag was fused to the N-terminals. Both purified His-IbpA and His-IbpB formed multimers, which have molecular masses of about 2.0-3.0 MDa and consist of about 100-150 subunits. They suppressed the inactivation of several enzymes including citrate synthase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase by heat, potassium superoxide, hydrogen peroxide and freeze-thawing, but not the inactivation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase by hydrogen peroxide. Both His-IbpA and His-IbpB suppressed enzyme inactivation by various treatments and were also found to be associated with their non-native forms. However, both His-IbpA and His-IbpB were not able to reactivate enzymes inactivated by heat, oxidants or guanidine hydrochloride. When heated to 50 degrees C, each multimeric form of His-IbpA or His-IbpB was dissociated to form a monomer for His-IbpA, and an oligomer of about one-quarter size for His-IbpB. These structural changes were reversible, as both heated proteins regained the multimeric structures after incubation at 25 degrees C. However, when exposed to hydrogen peroxide or potassium superoxide, the large multimeric forms of His-IbpA and His-IbpB were maintained. The results suggest that His-IbpA and His-IbpB suppress the inactivation of enzymes and bind non-native proteins to protect their structures from heat and oxidants.     

Escherichia coli cells with mutations in the gene for adenylate cyclase (cya) exhibit a heat shock response

Abstract Adenylate cyclase mutants of Escherichia coli showed the heat-shock response. The heat-shock response was studied in two different mutants and in different growth media, including rich and minimal media. These results are in disagreement with the proposal that the cya gene regulates the expression of the heat-shock genes.     

Two Bacterial Small Heat Shock Proteins,IbpA and IbpB,Form a Functional Heterodimer

Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are a conserved class of ATP-independent chaperones which in stress conditions bind to unfolded protein substrates and prevent their irreversible aggregation. Substrates trapped in sHsps-containing aggregates are efficiently refolded into native structures by ATP-dependent Hsp70 and Hsp100 chaperones. Most γ-proteobacteria possess a single sHsp (IbpA), while in a subset of Enterobacterales, as a consequence of ibpA gene duplication event, a two-protein sHsp (IbpA and IbpB) system has evolved. IbpA and IbpB are functionally divergent. Purified IbpA, but not IbpB, stably interacts with aggregated substrates, yet both sHsps are required to be present at the substrate denaturation step for subsequent efficient Hsp70-Hsp100-dependent substrate refolding. IbpA and IbpB interact with each other, influence each other’s expression levels and degradation rates. However, the crucial information on how these two sHsps interact and what is the basic building block required for proper sHsps functioning was missing. Here, based on NMR, mass spectrometry and crosslinking studies, we show that IbpA-IbpB heterodimer is a dominating functional unit of the two sHsp system in Enterobacterales. The principle of heterodimer formation is similar to one described for homodimers of single bacterial sHsps. β-hairpins formed by strands β5 and β7 of IbpA or IbpB crystallin domains associate with the other one's β-sandwich in the heterodimer structure. Relying on crosslinking and molecular dynamics studies, we also propose the orientation of two IbpA-IbpB heterodimers in a higher order tetrameric structure.     

Temperature shift-up leads to simultaneous and continuous plasmid DNA relaxation and induction of DnaK and GroEL proteins in anaerobically growing Escherichia coli cells

Abstract We previously reported that plasmid DNA in Escherichia coli cells growing under aerobic conditions relaxed immediately and transiently after heat shock (Mizushima, T., Natori, S. and Sekimizu, K., Mol. Gen. Genet. (1993) 238, 1–5). We next examined DNA relaxation and induction of heat shock proteins after heat shock in cells growing under anaerobic conditions. DNA in these cells relaxed rapidly (2 min) after heat shock (42°C), as was the case with aerobically growing cells, but full superhelicity was not recovered. The relaxed state of DNA topology was maintained for 60 min after heat shock. Induction of DnaK and GroEL proteins, which was transient in aerobically growing cells, was continuous in anaerobically growing cells. Therefore, induction of heat shock proteins correlated with DNA relaxation in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.     

Roles and applications of small heat shock proteins in the production of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli

Proteome profiling of the inclusion body (IB) fraction of recombinant proteins produced in Escherichia coli suggested that two small heat shock proteins, IbpA and IbpB, are the major proteins associated with IBs. In this study, we demonstrate that IbpA and IbpB facilitate the production of recombinant proteins in E. coli and play important roles in protecting recombinant proteins from degradation by cytoplasmic proteases. We examined the cytosolic production, and Tat- or Sec-dependent secretion of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in wild type, ibpAB(-) mutant, and ibpAB-amplified E. coli strains. Analysis of fluorescence histograms and confocal microscopic imaging revealed that over-expression of the ibpA and/or ibpB genes enhanced cytosolic EGFP production whereas knocking out the ibpAB genes enhanced secretory production. This strategy seems to be generally applicable as it was successfully employed for the enhanced cytosolic or secretory production of several other recombinant proteins in E. coli.     

Over-expression of a small heat shock protein,sHSP17.7, confers both heat tolerance and UV-B resistance to rice plants

Exposure of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings to a high temperature (42°C) for 24 h resulted in a significant increase in resistance to UV-B damage. UV-B resistance was enhanced in parallel with the period of heat treatment. sHSP17.7 was isolated from heated rice seedlings, and the influence of rice sHSP17.7 expression on the viability of E. coli under heat-shock conditions was assessed. After heating, the survival rate of sHSP17.7 cells was 2-fold higher than that of the control cells. The molecular chaperone activity of sHSP17.7 was investigated using catalase as a substrate. Recombinant sHSP17.7 had heat-stable chaperone properties that were capable of protecting stressed catalase from precipitation. sHSP17.7 was overexpressed in the rice cultivar Hoshinoyume, by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, under the control of a CaMV 35S promoter. Transgenic rice plants with increased levels of sHSP17.7 protein exhibited significantly increased thermotolerance compared to untransformed control plants. The level of increased thermotolerance was correlated with the level of increased sHSP17.7 protein in the transgenic plants. The transgenic rice plant with the highest constitutive expression of sHSP17.7 had significantly greater resistance to UV-B stress than untransformed control plants. Increase in the degree of resistance of transgenic plants to UV-B was accompanied by an increase in production of sHSP17.7 protein.     

Small heat shock proteins are necessary for heart migration and laterality determination in zebrafish

Small heat shock proteins (sHsps) regulate cellular functions not only under stress, but also during normal development, when they are expressed in organ-specific patterns. Here we demonstrate that two small heat shock proteins expressed in embryonic zebrafish heart, hspb7 and hspb12, have roles in the development of left–right asymmetry. In zebrafish, laterality is determined by the motility of cilia in Kupffer's vesicle (KV), where hspb7 is expressed; knockdown of hspb7 causes laterality defects by disrupting the motility of these cilia. In embryos with reduced hspb7, the axonemes of KV cilia have a 9+0 structure, while control embyros have a predominately 9+2 structure. Reduction of either hspb7 or hspb12 alters the expression pattern of genes that propagate the signals that establish left–right asymmetry: the nodal-related gene southpaw (spaw) in the lateral plate mesoderm, and its downstream targets pitx2, lefty1 and lefty2. Partial depletion of hspb7 causes concordant heart, brain and visceral laterality defects, indicating that loss of KV cilia motility leads to coordinated but randomized laterality. Reducing hspb12 leads to similar alterations in the expression of downstream laterality genes, but at a lower penetrance. Simultaneous reduction of hspb7 and hspb12 randomizes heart, brain and visceral laterality, suggesting that these two genes have partially redundant functions in the establishment of left–right asymmetry. In addition, both hspb7 and hspb12 are expressed in the precardiac mesoderm and in the yolk syncytial layer, which supports the migration and fusion of mesodermal cardiac precursors. In embryos in which the reduction of hspb7 or hspb12 was limited to the yolk, migration defects predominated, suggesting that the yolk expression of these genes rather than heart expression is responsible for the migration defects.     

Small heat shock proteins in the development of thermotolerance in Pisolithus sp.

Small heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been shown to confer thermotolerance in many organisms. Here, we demonstrate that small HSPs (sHSPs) can also be involved in development of thermotolerance in Pisolithus sp. In heat shock response, Pisolithus isolate RV82 synthesized proteins of molecular mass 28, 26 and 15–18 kDa. These group of proteins are synthesized when mycelial mass are exposed to heat shock temperature (42 °C) for short period (30 min) and incubated back at 28 °C, the optimal temperature for growth. Our results show sHSPs are an important biochemical alteration in ectomycorrhizal fungi under thermal stress.     

Small heat shock proteins and adaptation of various Drosophila species to hyperthermia

The dynamics and the level of accumulation of small heat shock proteins (sHSP group 21–27) after a heat exposure were studied in three Drosophila species differing in thermotolerance. The southern species Drosophila virilis, having the highest thermotolerance, surpassed thermosensitive D. lummei and D. melanogaster in the level of sHSPs throughout the temperature range tested. The results suggest an important role of sHSPs in the molecular mechanisms of adaptation to adverse environmental conditions, particularly to hyperthermia.     

Alpha-synuclein has structural and functional similarities to small heat shock proteins

The aggregation and fibrillization of α-synuclein, a major component of Lewy bodies, is a key event in Parkinson’s disease. Although the mechanisms of fibrils formation are largely investigated, physiological function of α-synuclein is not yet clearly elucidated. Here, we showed that C-terminal region of α-synuclein is similar to α-crystalline domain of small heat shock proteins. In our experiments, α-synuclein, like small heat shock proteins, protected cellular proteins from denaturation, and confer Escherichia coli cellular tolerances against thermal- and oxidative-stresses.     

The small heat shock protein IbpA of Escherichia coli cooperates with IbpB in stabilization of thermally aggregated proteins in a disaggregation competent state

The small heat shock proteins are ubiquitous stress proteins proposed to increase cellular tolerance to heat shock conditions. We isolated IbpA, the Escherichia coli small heat shock protein, and tested its ability to keep thermally inactivated substrate proteins in a disaggregation competent state. We found that the presence of IbpA alone during substrate thermal inactivation only weakly influences the ability of the bi-chaperone Hsp70-Hsp100 system to disaggregate aggregated substrate. Similar minor effects were observed for IbpB alone, the other E. coli small heat shock protein. However, when both IbpA and IbpB are simultaneously present during substrate inactivation they efficiently stabilize thermally aggregated proteins in a disaggregation competent state. The properties of the aggregated protein substrates are changed in the presence of IbpA and IbpB, resulting in lower hydrophobicity and the ability of aggregates to withstand sizing chromatography conditions. IbpA and IbpB form mixed complexes, and IbpA stimulates association of IbpB with substrate.     

Structural and functional homology between periplasmic bacterial molecular chaperones and small heat shock proteins

Abstract The periplasmic Yersinia pestis molecular chaperone Caf1M belongs to a superfamily of bacterial proteins for one of which (PapD protein of Escherichia coli ) the immunoglobulin-like fold was solved by X-ray analysis. The N-terminal domain of Caf1M was found to share a 20% amino acid sequence identity with an inclusion body-associated protein IbpB of Escherichia coli . One of the regions that was compared, was 32 amino acids long, and displayed more than 40% identity, probability of random coincidence was 1.2 × 10⁻⁴. IbpB is involved in a superfamily of small heat shock proteins which fulfil the function of molecular chaperone. On the basis of the revealed homology, an immunoglobulin-like one-domain model of IbpB three-dimensional structure was designed which could be a prototype conformation of sHsp's. The structure suggested is in good agreement with the known experimental data obtained for different members of sHsp's superfamily.     

Small heat shock proteins: big folding machines

The workshop was entitled “The Small HSP World” and had the mission to bring together investigators studying small heat shock proteins (sHSPs). It was held at Le Bonne Entente in Quebec City (Quebec, Canada) from October 2 to October 5 2014. Forty-four scientists from 14 different countries attended this workshop of the Cell Stress Society International (CSSI). The small number of participants stimulated interesting discussions, and the resulting informal atmosphere was appreciated by everybody. This article provides highlights from talks and discussions of the workshop, giving an overview of the latest work on sHSPs.