title: Conformational properties of bacterial DnaK and yeast mitochondrial Hsp70. Role of the divergent C-terminal alpha-helical subdomain.
abstract: Among the eukaryotic members of the Hsp70 family, mitochondrial Hsp70 shows the highest degree of sequence identity with bacterial DnaK. Although they share a functional mechanism and homologous co-chaperones, they are highly specific and cannot be exchanged between Escherichia coli and yeast mitochondria. To provide a structural basis for this finding, we characterized both proteins, as well as two DnaK/mtHsp70 chimeras constructed by domain swapping, using biochemical and biophysical methods. Here, we show that DnaK and mtHsp70 display different conformational and biochemical properties. Replacing different regions of the DnaK peptide-binding domain with those of mtHsp70 results in chimeric proteins that: (a) are not able to support growth of an E. coli DnaK deletion strain at stress temperatures (e.g. 42 degrees C); (b) show increased accessibility and decreased thermal stability of the peptide-binding pocket; and (c) have reduced activation by bacterial, but not mitochondrial co-chaperones, as compared with DnaK. Importantly, swapping the C-terminal alpha-helical subdomain promotes a conformational change in the chimeras to an mtHsp70-like conformation. Thus, interaction with bacterial co-chaperones correlates well with the conformation that natural and chimeric Hsp70s adopt in solution. Our results support the hypothesis that a specific protein structure might regulate the interaction of Hsp70s with particular components of the cellular machinery, such as Tim44, so that they perform specific functions.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Biofísica (CSIC-UPV/EHU) y Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, Spain. gbbmopef@lg.ehu.es
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moro
authors.forename: Vanesa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fernández-Sáiz
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Slutsky
authors.forename: Abdussalam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azem
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muga
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001665:Binding Sites; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D015003:Yeasts / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D010455:Peptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C115251:DnaK protein, Brevibacillus choshinensis