title: Simian virus 40 T antigens and J domains: analysis of Hsp40 cochaperone functions in Escherichia coli.
abstract: The N-terminal exon of DNA tumor virus T antigens represents a J domain that can direct interaction with the host-encoded Hsp70 chaperones. We have taken advantage of rapid Hsp40 cochaperone assays with Escherichia coli to assess simian virus 40 (SV40)-encoded J-domain loss of function. We found a strong correlation between loss of cochaperone function in E. coli and defective SV40 growth, suggesting that the major role of the J domain in DNA tumor viruses is to provide cochaperone function. We also report the expression of native SV40 virus T antigens in E. coli. Our results show that small t antigen, but not large T antigen (LT) or LT truncation TN125 or TN136, can functionally replace under limited growth conditions DnaJ (Hsp40) function in vivo. In addition, purified small t antigen can efficiently stimulate E. coli DnaK's (Hsp70) ATPase in vitro, thus behaving like a bona fide cochaperone. Furthermore, small t amino acids 83 to 174, which are adjacent to the viral J domain, can replace the E. coli DnaJ J-domain glycine-phenylalanine-rich domain, immediately adjacent to the J-domain sequences, even in the absence of significant amino acid similarity to their DnaJ counterpart. Taken together, our studies demonstrate that functionally related Hsp40 proteins from mammalian viral systems can be rapidly studied in bacteria and exploited to probe the universally conserved Hsp70 chaperone machine mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biochimie Médicale, Centre Médical Universitaire, Université de Genève, CH-1211 Genève 14, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Genevaux
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schwager
authors.forename: Jai V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Vartikar
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rundell
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pipas
authors.forename: Costa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Georgopoulos
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Kelley
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D004261:DNA Replication; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming; C494635:DnaJ protein, E coli; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D050956:HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones