GroEL-mediated protein folding: making the impossible, possible

Prolonged fasting identifies heat shock protein 10 as a Sirtuin 3 substrate: elucidating a new mechanism linking mitochondrial protein acetylation to fatty acid oxidation enzyme folding and function

Although Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3), a mitochondrially enriched deacetylase and activator of fat oxidation, is down-regulated in response to high fat feeding, the rate of fatty acid oxidation and mitochondrial protein acetylation are invariably enhanced in this dietary milieu. These paradoxical data implicate that additional acetylation modification-dependent levels of regulation may be operational under nutrient excess conditions. Because the heat shock protein (Hsp) Hsp10-Hsp60 chaperone complex mediates folding of the fatty acid oxidation enzyme medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, we tested whether acetylation-dependent mitochondrial protein folding contributes to this regulatory discrepancy. We demonstrate that Hsp10 is a functional SIRT3 substrate and that, in response to prolonged fasting, SIRT3 levels modulate mitochondrial protein folding. Acetyl mutagenesis of Hsp10 lysine 56 alters Hsp10-Hsp60 binding, conformation, and protein folding. Consistent with Hsp10-Hsp60 regulation of fatty acid oxidation enzyme integrity, medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity and fat oxidation are elevated by Hsp10 acetylation. These data identify acetyl modification of Hsp10 as a nutrient-sensing regulatory node controlling mitochondrial protein folding and metabolic function.

Produced water exposure alters bacterial response to biocides

Microbial activity during the holding and reuse of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing operations, termed produced water, may lead to issues with corrosion, sulfide release, and fouling. Biocides are applied to control biological activity, often with limited efficacy, which is typically attributed to chemical interactions with the produced water. However, it is unknown whether there is a biologically driven mechanism to biocide tolerance in produced water. Here, we demonstrate that produced water exposure results in an enhanced tolerance against the typically used biocide glutaraldehyde and increased susceptibility to the oxidative biocide hypochlorite in a native and a model bacteria and that this altered resistance is due to the salinity of the produced water. In addition, we elucidate the genetic response of the model organism Pseudomonas fluorescens to produced water exposure to provide a mechanistic interpretation of the altered biocide resistance. The RNA-seq data demonstrated the induction of genes involved in osmotic stress, energy production and conversion, membrane integrity, and protein transport following produced water exposure, which facilitates bacterial survival and alters biocide tolerance. Efforts to fundamentally understand biocide resistance mechanisms, which enable the optimization of biocide application, hold significant implications for greening of the fracturing process through encouraging produced water recycling. Specifically, these results suggest the necessity of optimizing biocide application at the level of individual shale plays, rather than historical experience, based upon produced water characteristics and salinity.

Survival and innovation: The role of mutational robustness in evolution

Biological systems are resistant to perturbations caused by the environment and by the intrinsic noise of the system. Robustness to mutations is a particular aspect of robustness in which the phenotype is resistant to genotypic variation. Mutational robustness has been linked to the ability of the system to generate heritable genetic variation (a property known as evolvability). It is known that greater robustness leads to increased evolvability. Therefore, mechanisms that increase mutational robustness fuel evolvability. Two such mechanisms, molecular chaperones and gene duplication, have been credited with enormous importance in generating functional diversity through the increase of system's robustness to mutational insults. However, the way in which such mechanisms regulate robustness remains largely uncharacterized. In this review, I provide evidence in support of the role of molecular chaperones and gene duplication in innovation. Specifically, I present evidence that these mechanisms regulate robustness allowing unstable systems to survive long periods of time, and thus they provide opportunity for other mutations to compensate the destabilizing effects of functionally innovative mutations. The findings reported in this study set new questions with regards to the synergy between robustness mechanisms and how this synergy can alter the adaptive landscape of proteins. The ideas proposed in this article set the ground for future research in the understanding of the role of robustness in evolution.

Mechanistic insights into the folding of knotted proteins in vitro and in vivo

The importance of knots and entanglements in biological systems is increasingly being realized and the number of proteins with topologically complex knotted structures has risen. However, the mechanism as to how these proteins knot and fold efficiently remains unclear. Using a cell-free expression system and pulse-proteolysis experiments, we have investigated the mechanism of knotting and folding for two bacterial trefoil-knotted methyltransferases. This study provides the first experimental evidence for a knotting mechanism. Results on fusions of stable protein domains to N-terminus, C-terminus or both termini of the knotted proteins clearly demonstrate that threading of the nascent chain through a knotting loop occurs via the C-terminus. Our results strongly suggest that this mechanism occurs even when the C-terminus is severely hindered by the addition of a large stable structure, in contrast to some simulations indicating that even the folding pathways of knotted proteins have some plasticity. The same strategy was employed to probe the effects of GroEL-GroES. In this case, results suggest active mechanisms for the molecular chaperonin. We demonstrate that a simple model in which GroEL-GroES sterically confines the unknotted polypeptide chain thereby promoting knotting is unlikely, and we propose two alternatives: (a) the chaperonin facilitates unfolding of kinetically and topologically trapped intermediates or (b) the chaperonin stabilizes interactions that promote knotting. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the folding of knotted proteins both in vitro and in vivo, thus elucidating how they have withstood evolutionary pressures regardless of their complex topologies and intrinsically slow folding rates.

Formation and structures of GroEL:GroES2 chaperonin footballs, the protein-folding functional form

The GroE chaperonins assist substrate protein (SP) folding by cycling through several conformational states. With each cycle the SP is, in turn, captured, unfolded, briefly encapsulated (t1/2 ∼ 1 s), and released by the chaperonin complex. The protein-folding functional form is the US-football-shaped GroEL:GroES2 complex. We report structures of two such "football" complexes to ∼ 3.7-Å resolution; one is empty whereas the other contains encapsulated SP in both chambers. Although encapsulated SP is not visible on the electron density map, using calibrated FRET and order-of-addition experiments we show that owing to SP-catalyzed ADP/ATP exchange both chambers of the football complex encapsulate SP efficiently only if the binding of SP precedes that of ATP. The two rings of GroEL thus behave as a parallel processing machine, rather than functioning alternately. Compared with the bullet-shaped GroEL:GroES1 complex, the GroEL:GroES2 football complex differs conformationally at the GroEL-GroES interface and also at the interface between the two GroEL rings. We propose that the electrostatic interactions between the ε-NH(3+) of K105 of helix D in one ring with the negatively charged carboxyl oxygen of A109 at the carboxyl end of helix D of the other ring provide the structural basis for negative inter-ring cooperativity.

The C-terminal tails of the bacterial chaperonin GroEL stimulate protein folding by directly altering the conformation of a substrate protein

Many essential cellular proteins fold only with the assistance of chaperonin machines like the GroEL-GroES system of Escherichia coli. However, the mechanistic details of assisted protein folding by GroEL-GroES remain the subject of ongoing debate. We previously demonstrated that GroEL-GroES enhances the productive folding of a kinetically trapped substrate protein through unfolding, where both binding energy and the energy of ATP hydrolysis are used to disrupt the inhibitory misfolded states. Here, we show that the intrinsically disordered yet highly conserved C-terminal sequence of the GroEL subunits directly contributes to substrate protein unfolding. Interactions between the C terminus and the non-native substrate protein alter the binding position of the substrate protein on the GroEL apical surface. The C-terminal tails also impact the conformational state of the substrate protein during capture and encapsulation on the GroEL ring. Importantly, removal of the C termini results in slower overall folding, reducing the fraction of the substrate protein that commits quickly to a productive folding pathway and slowing several kinetically distinct folding transitions that occur inside the GroEL-GroES cavity. The conserved C-terminal tails of GroEL are thus important for protein folding from the beginning to the end of the chaperonin reaction cycle.

The groEL2 gene, but not groEL1, is required for biosynthesis of the secondary metabolite myxovirescin in Myxococcus xanthus DK1622

Myxococcus xanthus DK1622 possesses two copies of the groEL gene: groEL1, which participates in development, and groEL2, which is involved in the predatory ability of cells. In this study, we determined that the groEL2 gene is required for the biosynthesis of the secondary metabolite myxovirescin (TA), which plays essential roles in predation. The groEL2-knockout mutant strain was defective in producing a zone of inhibition and displayed decreased killing ability against Escherichia coli, while the groEL1-knockout mutant strain exhibited little difference from the wild-type strain DK1622. HPLC revealed that deletion of the groEL2 gene blocked the production of TA, which was present in the groEL1-knockout mutant. The addition of exogenous TA rescued the inhibition and killing abilities of the groEL2-knockout mutant against E. coli. Analysis of GroEL domain-swapping mutants indicated that the C-terminal equatorial domain of GroEL2 was essential for TA production, while the N-terminal equatorial or apical domains of GroEL2 were not sufficient to rescue TA production of the groEL2 knockout.

Chaperones GroEL/GroES accelerate the refolding of a multidomain protein through modulating on-pathway intermediates

Despite a vast amount information on the interplay of GroEL, GroES, and ATP in chaperone-assisted folding, the molecular details on the conformational dynamics of folding polypeptide during its GroEL/GroES-assisted folding cycle is quite limited. Practically no such studies have been reported to date on large proteins, which often have difficulty folding in vitro. The effect of the GroEL/GroES chaperonin system on the folding pathway of an 82-kDa slow folding protein, malate synthase G (MSG), was investigated. GroEL bound to the burst phase intermediate of MSG and accelerated the slowest kinetic phase associated with the formation of native topology in the spontaneous folding pathway. GroEL slowly induced conformational changes on the bound burst phase intermediate, which was then transformed into a more folding-compatible form. Subsequent addition of ATP or GroES/ATP to the GroEL-MSG complex led to the formation of the native state via a compact intermediate with the rate several times faster than that of spontaneous refolding. The presence of GroES doubled the ATP-dependent reactivation rate of bound MSG by preventing multiple cycles of its GroEL binding and release. Because GroES bound to the trans side of GroEL-MSG complex, it may be anticipated that confinement of the substrate underneath the co-chaperone is not required for accelerating the rate in the assisted folding pathway. The potential role of GroEL/GroES in assisted folding is most likely to modulate the conformation of MSG intermediates that can fold faster and thereby eliminate the possibility of partial aggregation caused by the slow folding intermediates during its spontaneous refolding pathway.

Substrate protein switches GroE chaperonins from asymmetric to symmetric cycling by catalyzing nucleotide exchange

The complex kinetics of Pi and ADP release by the chaperonin GroEL/GroES is influenced by the presence of unfolded substrate protein (SP). Without SP, the kinetics of Pi release are described by four phases: a "lag," a "burst" of ATP hydrolysis by the nascent cis ring, a "delay" caused by ADP release from the nascent trans ring, and steady-state ATP hydrolysis. The release of Pi precedes the release of ADP. The rate-determining step of the asymmetric cycle is the release of ADP from the trans ring of the GroEL-GroES1 "bullet" complex that is, consequently, the predominant species. In the asymmetric cycle, the two rings of GroEL function alternately, 180° out of phase. In the presence of SP, a change in the kinetic mechanism occurs. With SP present, the kinetics of ADP release are also described by four phases: a lag, a "surge" of ADP release attributable to SP-induced ADP/ATP exchange, and a "pause" during which symmetrical "football" particles are formed, followed by steady-state ATP hydrolysis. SP catalyzes ADP/ATP exchange on the trans ring. Now ADP release precedes the release of Pi, and the rate-determining step of the symmetric cycle becomes the hydrolysis of ATP by the symmetric GroEL-GroES2 football complex that is, consequently, the predominant species. A FRET-based analysis confirms that asymmetric GroEL-GroES1 bullets predominate in the absence of SP, whereas symmetric GroEL-GroES2 footballs predominate in the presence of SP. This evidence suggests that symmetrical football particles are the folding functional form of the chaperonin machine in vivo.

Symmetric GroEL:GroES2 complexes are the protein-folding functional form of the chaperonin nanomachine

Using calibrated FRET, we show that the simultaneous occupancy of both rings of GroEL by ATP and GroES occurs, leading to the rapid formation of symmetric GroEL:GroES2 "football" particles regardless of the presence or absence of substrate protein (SP). In the absence of SP, these symmetric particles revert to asymmetric GroEL:GroES1 "bullet" particles. The breakage of GroES symmetry requires the stochastic hydrolysis of ATP and the breakage of nucleotide symmetry. These asymmetric particles are both persistent and dynamic; they turnover via the asymmetric cycle. When challenged with SP, however, they revert to symmetric particles within a second. In the presence of SP, the symmetric particles are also persistent and dynamic. They turn over via the symmetric cycle. Under these conditions, the stochastic hydrolysis of ATP and the breakage of nucleotide symmetry also occur within the ensemble of particles. However, on account of SP-catalyzed ADP/ATP exchange, GroES symmetry is rapidly restored. The residence time of both GroES and SP on functional GroEL is reduced to ∼1 s, enabling many more iterations than was previously believed possible, consistent with the iterative annealing mechanism. This result is inconsistent with currently accepted models. Using a foldable SP, we show that as the SP folds to the native state and the population of unfolded SP declines, the population of symmetric particles reverts to asymmetric particles in parallel, a result that is consistent with the former being the folding functional form.

Novel interaction between the major bacterial heat shock chaperone (GroESL) and an RNA chaperone (CspC)

The heat shock response is one of the main global regulatory networks in all organisms and involves an increased cellular level of chaperones and proteases to enable correct protein folding and balanced growth. One of the major heat shock chaperones in Escherichia coli is GroESL, composed of GroES and GroEL (the bacterial Hsp10 and Hsp60 homologues), which is essential for refolding of misfolded proteins. GroESL was previously shown to play a role in the regulation of the heat shock response by promoting the proteolysis of the regulatory protein--sigma32 (RpoH), the heat shock transcription activator. Here we show the involvement of GroESL in another proteolytic process, this of the major RNA chaperone--CspC--that specifically stabilizes the transcripts of several stress-related genes. Evidence is provided for an interaction between GroESL and CspC that results in enhanced, temperature-dependent proteolysis of the latter. This interaction is of regulatory importance, as reduction in the cellular levels of CspC leads to a decrease in stability of the major heat shock gene transcripts.

Transient conformational remodeling of folding proteins by GroES-individually and in concert with GroEL

The commonly accepted dogma of the bacterial GroE chaperonin system entails protein folding mediated by cycles of several ATP-dependent sequential steps where GroEL interacts with the folding client protein. In contrast, we herein report GroES-mediated dynamic remodeling (expansion and compression) of two different protein substrates during folding: the endogenous substrate MreB and carbonic anhydrase (HCAII), a well-characterized protein folding model. GroES was also found to influence GroEL binding induced unfolding and compression of the client protein underlining the synergistic activity of both chaperonins, even in the absence of ATP. This previously unidentified activity by GroES should have important implications for understanding the chaperonin mechanism and cellular stress response. Our findings necessitate a revision of the GroEL/ES mechanism.

Repetitive protein unfolding by the trans ring of the GroEL-GroES chaperonin complex stimulates folding

A key constraint on the growth of most organisms is the slow and inefficient folding of many essential proteins. To deal with this problem, several diverse families of protein folding machines, known collectively as molecular chaperones, developed early in evolutionary history. The functional role and operational steps of these remarkably complex nanomachines remain subjects of active debate. Here we present evidence that, for the GroEL-GroES chaperonin system, the non-native substrate protein enters the folding cycle on the trans ring of the double-ring GroEL-ATP-GroES complex rather than the ADP-bound complex. The properties of this ATP complex are designed to ensure that non-native substrate protein binds first, followed by ATP and finally GroES. This binding order ensures efficient occupancy of the open GroEL ring and allows for disruption of misfolded structures through two phases of multiaxis unfolding. In this model, repeated cycles of partial unfolding, followed by confinement within the GroEL-GroES chamber, provide the most effective overall mechanism for facilitating the folding of the most stringently dependent GroEL substrate proteins.

Visualizing GroEL/ES in the act of encapsulating a folding protein

The GroEL/ES chaperonin system is required for the assisted folding of many proteins. How these substrate proteins are encapsulated within the GroEL-GroES cavity is poorly understood. Using symmetry-free, single-particle cryo-electron microscopy, we have characterized a chemically modified mutant of GroEL (EL43Py) that is trapped at a normally transient stage of substrate protein encapsulation. We show that the symmetric pattern of the GroEL subunits is broken as the GroEL cis-ring apical domains reorient to accommodate the simultaneous binding of GroES and an incompletely folded substrate protein (RuBisCO). The collapsed RuBisCO folding intermediate binds to the lower segment of two apical domains, as well as to the normally unstructured GroEL C-terminal tails. A comparative structural analysis suggests that the allosteric transitions leading to substrate protein release and folding involve concerted shifts of GroES and the GroEL apical domains and C-terminal tails.

Coevolution analyses illuminate the dependencies between amino acid sites in the chaperonin system GroES-L

BACKGROUND

GroESL is a heat-shock protein ubiquitous in bacteria and eukaryotic organelles. This evolutionarily conserved protein is involved in the folding of a wide variety of other proteins in the cytosol, being essential to the cell. The folding activity proceeds through strong conformational changes mediated by the co-chaperonin GroES and ATP. Functions alternative to folding have been previously described for GroEL in different bacterial groups, supporting enormous functional and structural plasticity for this molecule and the existence of a hidden combinatorial code in the protein sequence enabling such functions. Describing this plasticity can shed light on the functional diversity of GroEL. We hypothesize that different overlapping sets of amino acids coevolve within GroEL, GroES and between both these proteins. Shifts in these coevolutionary relationships may inevitably lead to evolution of alternative functions.

RESULTS

We conducted the first coevolution analyses in an extensive bacterial phylogeny, revealing complex networks of evolutionary dependencies between residues in GroESL. These networks differed among bacterial groups and involved amino acid sites with functional importance and others with previously unsuspected functional potential. Coevolutionary networks formed statistically independent units among bacterial groups and map to structurally continuous regions in the protein, suggesting their functional link. Sites involved in coevolution fell within narrow structural regions, supporting dynamic combinatorial functional links involving similar protein domains. Moreover, coevolving sites within a bacterial group mapped to regions previously identified as involved in folding-unrelated functions, and thus, coevolution may mediate alternative functions.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results highlight the evolutionary plasticity of GroEL across the entire bacterial phylogeny. Evidence on the functional importance of coevolving sites illuminates the as yet unappreciated functional diversity of proteins.

Crystal structure of a GroEL-ADP complex in the relaxed allosteric state at 2.7 Å resolution

The chaperonin proteins GroEL and GroES are cellular nanomachines driven by the hydrolysis of ATP that facilitate the folding of structurally diverse substrate proteins. In response to ligand binding, the subunits of a ring cycle in a concerted manner through a series of allosteric states (T, R, and R″), enabling work to be performed on the substrate protein. Removing two salt bridges that ordinarily break during the allosteric transitions of the WT permitted the structure of GroEL-ADP in the R state to be solved to 2.7 Å resolution. Whereas the equatorial domain displays almost perfect sevenfold symmetry, the apical domains, to which substrate proteins bind, and to a lesser extent, the intermediate domains display a remarkable asymmetry. Freed of intersubunit contacts, the apical domain of each subunit adopts a different conformation, suggesting a flexibility that permits interaction with diverse substrate proteins. This result contrasts with a previous cryo-EM study of a related allosteric ATP-bound state at lower resolution. After artificially imposing sevenfold symmetry it was concluded that a GroEL ring in the R-ATP state existed in six homogeneous but slightly different states. By imposing sevenfold symmetry on each of the subunits of the crystal structure of GroEL-ADP, we showed that the synthetic rings of (X-ray) GroEL-ADP and (cryo-EM) GroEL-ATP are structurally closely related. A deterministic model, the click stop mechanism, that implied temporal transitions between these states was proposed. Here, however, these conformational states are shown to exist as a structurally heterogeneous ensemble within a single ring.

Chaperone activation by unfolding

Conditionally disordered proteins can alternate between highly ordered and less ordered configurations under physiological conditions. Whereas protein function is often associated with the ordered conformation, for some of these conditionally unstructured proteins, the opposite applies: Their activation is associated with their unfolding. An example is the small periplasmic chaperone HdeA, which is critical for the ability of enteric bacterial pathogens like Escherichia coli to survive passage through extremely acidic environments, such as the human stomach. At neutral pH, HdeA is a chaperone-inactive dimer. On a shift to low pH, however, HdeA monomerizes, partially unfolds, and becomes rapidly active in preventing the aggregation of substrate proteins. By mutating two aspartic acid residues predicted to be responsible for the pH-dependent monomerization of HdeA, we have succeeded in isolating an HdeA mutant that is active at neutral pH. We find this HdeA mutant to be substantially destabilized, partially unfolded, and mainly monomeric at near-neutral pH at a concentration at which it prevents aggregation of a substrate protein. These results provide convincing evidence for direct activation of a protein by partial unfolding.

Mechanisms involved in the functional divergence of duplicated GroEL chaperonins in Myxococcus xanthus DK1622

The gene encoding the GroEL chaperonin is duplicated in nearly 30% of bacterial genomes; and although duplicated groEL genes have been comprehensively determined to have distinct physiological functions in different species, the mechanisms involved have not been characterized to date. Myxococcus xanthus DK1622 has two copies of the groEL gene, each of which can be deleted without affecting cell viability; however, the deletion of either gene does result in distinct defects in the cellular heat-shock response, predation, and development. In this study, we show that, from the expression levels of different groELs, the distinct functions of groEL1 and groEL2 in predation and development are probably the result of the substrate selectivity of the paralogous GroEL chaperonins, whereas the lethal effect of heat shock due to the deletion of groEL1 is caused by a decrease in the total groEL expression level. Following a bioinformatics analysis of the composition characteristics of GroELs from different bacteria, we performed region-swapping assays in M. xanthus, demonstrating that the differences in the apical and the C-terminal equatorial regions determine the substrate specificity of the two GroELs. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments indicated that the GGM repeat sequence at the C-terminus of GroEL1 plays an important role in functional divergence. Divergent functions of duplicated GroELs, which have similar patterns of variation in different bacterial species, have thus evolved mainly via alteration of the apical and the C-terminal equatorial regions. We identified the specific substrates of strain DK1622's GroEL1 and GroEL2 using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry techniques. Although 68 proteins bound to both GroEL1 and GroEL2, 83 and 46 proteins bound exclusively to GroEL1 or GroEL2, respectively. The GroEL-specific substrates exhibited distinct molecular sizes and secondary structures, providing an encouraging indication for GroEL evolution for functional divergence.

Intrinsically disordered proteins undergo and assist folding transitions in the proteome

The common notion in the protein world holds that proteins are synthesized as a linear polypeptide chain, followed by folding into a unique, functional 3D-structure. As outlined in many articles of this volume, this is in fact the case for a great proportion of the proteome. Many proteins and protein domains, however, are intrinsically disordered (IDPs), i.e., they cannot fold on their own, but often undergo a folding transition in the presence of a binding partner. This binding-induced folding process shows strong conceptual parallels with the folding of globular proteins, in a sense that it can proceed via two routes, either induction of the folded conformation from an initial random state or selection of a pre-formed state already present in the ensemble. In addition, we show that IDPs not only undergo folding themselves, they also assist the folding process of other proteins as chaperones, and even contribute to the quality control processes of the cell, in which irreparably misfolded proteins are recognized and tagged for proteasomal degradation. These various mechanisms suggest that structural disorder, in a biological context, is linked with protein folding in several ways, in which both the IDP and its partner may undergo reciprocal structural transitions.

Macromolecule-assisted de novo protein folding

In the processes of protein synthesis and folding, newly synthesized polypeptides are tightly connected to the macromolecules, such as ribosomes, lipid bilayers, or cotranslationally folded domains in multidomain proteins, representing a hallmark of de novo protein folding environments in vivo. Such linkage effects on the aggregation of endogenous polypeptides have been largely neglected, although all these macromolecules have been known to effectively and robustly solubilize their linked heterologous proteins in fusion or display technology. Thus, their roles in the aggregation of linked endogenous polypeptides need to be elucidated and incorporated into the mechanisms of de novo protein folding in vivo. In the classic hydrophobic interaction-based stabilizing mechanism underlying the molecular chaperone-assisted protein folding, it has been assumed that the macromolecules connected through a simple linkage without hydrophobic interactions and conformational changes would make no effect on the aggregation of their linked polypeptide chains. However, an increasing line of evidence indicates that the intrinsic properties of soluble macromolecules, especially their surface charges and excluded volume, could be important and universal factors for stabilizing their linked polypeptides against aggregation. Taken together, these macromolecules could act as folding helpers by keeping their linked nascent chains in a folding-competent state. The folding assistance provided by these macromolecules in the linkage context would give new insights into de novo protein folding inside the cell.

The unusual mycobacterial chaperonins: evidence for in vivo oligomerization and specialization of function

The pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis expresses two chaperonins, one (Cpn60.1) dispensable and one (Cpn60.2) essential. These proteins have been reported not to form oligomers despite the fact that oligomerization of chaperonins is regarded as essential for their function. We show here that the Cpn60.2 homologue from Mycobacterium smegmatis also fails to oligomerize under standard conditions. However, we also show that the Cpn60.2 proteins from both organisms can replace the essential groEL gene of Escherichia coli, and that they can function with E. coli GroES cochaperonin, as well as with their cognate cochaperonin proteins, strongly implying that they form oligomers in vivo. We show that the Cpn60.1 proteins, but not the Cpn60.2 proteins, can complement for loss of the M. smegmatis cpn60.1 gene. We investigated the oligomerization of the Cpn60.2 proteins using analytical ultracentrifugation and mass spectroscopy. Both form monomers under standard conditions, but they form higher order oligomers in the presence of kosmotropes and ADP or ATP. Under these conditions, their ATPase activity is significantly enhanced. We conclude that the essential mycobacterial chaperonins, while unstable compared to many other bacterial chaperonins, do act as oligomers in vivo, and that there has been specialization of function of the mycobacterial chaperonins following gene duplication.

Tea tree oil-induced transcriptional alterations in Staphylococcus aureus

Tea tree oil (TTO) is a steam distillate of Melaleuca alternifolia that demonstrates broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. This study was designed to document how TTO challenge influences the Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome. Overall, bioinformatic analyses (S. aureus microarray meta-database) revealed that both ethanol and TTO induce related transcriptional alterations. TTO challenge led to the down-regulation of genes involved with energy-intensive transcription and translation, and altered the regulation of genes involved with heat shock (e.g. clpC, clpL, ctsR, dnaK, groES, groEL, grpE and hrcA) and cell wall metabolism (e.g. cwrA, isaA, sle1, vraSR and vraX). Inactivation of the heat shock gene dnaK or vraSR which encodes a two-component regulatory system that responds to peptidoglycan biosynthesis inhibition led to an increase in TTO susceptibility which demonstrates a protective role for these genes in the S. aureus TTO response. A gene (mmpL) encoding a putative resistance, nodulation and cell division efflux pump was also highly induced by TTO. The principal antimicrobial TTO terpene, terpinen-4-ol, altered ten genes in a transcriptional direction analogous to TTO. Collectively, this study provides additional insight into the response of a bacterial pathogen to the antimicrobial terpene mixture TTO.

Fibrillogenic propensity of the GroEL apical domain: a Janus-faced minichaperone

The chaperonin GroEL plays an essential role in promoting protein folding and in protecting against misfolding and aggregation in the cellular environment. In this study, we report that both GroEL and its isolated apical domain form amyloid-like fibrils under physiological conditions, and that the fibrillation of the apical domain is accelerated under acidic conditions. We also found, however, that despite its fibrillation propensity, the apical domain exhibits a pronounced inhibitory effect on the fibril growth of β(2)-microglobulin. Thus, the analysis of the behaviour of the apical domain reveals how aggregation and chaperone-mediated anti-aggregation processes can be closely related.

Molecular and histological characterization of primary (betaproteobacteria) and secondary (gammaproteobacteria) endosymbionts of three mealybug species

Microscopic localization of endosymbiotic bacteria in three species of mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus, the long-tailed mealybug; Pseudococcus calceolariae, the citrophilus mealybug; and Pseudococcus viburni, the obscure mealybug) showed these organisms were confined to bacteriocyte cells within a bacteriome centrally located within the hemocoel. Two species of bacteria were present, with the secondary endosymbiont, in all cases, living within the primary endosymbiont. DNA from the dissected bacteriomes of all three species of mealybug was extracted for analysis. Sequence data from selected 16S rRNA genes confirmed identification of the primary endosymbiont as "Candidatus Tremblaya princeps," a betaproteobacterium, and the secondary endosymbionts as gammaproteobacteria closely related to Sodalis glossinidius. A single 16S rRNA sequence of the primary endosymbiont was found in all individuals of each mealybug species. In contrast, the presence of multiple divergent strains of secondary endosymbionts in each individual mealybug suggests different evolutionary and transmission histories of the two endosymbionts. Mealybugs are known vectors of the plant pathogen Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3. To examine the possible role of either endosymbiont in virus transmission, an extension of the model for interaction of proteins with bacterial chaperonins, i.e., GroEL protein homologs, based on mobile-loop amino acid sequences of their GroES homologs, was developed and used for analyses of viral coat protein interactions. The data from this model are consistent with a role for the primary endosymbiont in mealybug transmission of Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3.

Analysis of peptides and proteins in their binding to GroEL

The GroEL-GroES is an essential molecular chaperon system that assists protein folding in cell. Binding of various substrate proteins to GroEL is one of the key aspects in GroEL-assisted protein folding. Small peptides may mimic segments of the substrate proteins in contact with GroEL and allow detailed structural analysis of the interactions. A model peptide SBP has been shown to bind to a region in GroEL that is important for binding of substrate proteins. Here, we investigated whether the observed GroEL-SBP interaction represented those of GroEL-substrate proteins, and whether SBP was able to mimic various aspects of substrate proteins in GroE-assisted protein folding cycle. We found that SBP competed with substrate proteins, including α-lactalbumin, rhodanese, and malate dehydrogenase, in binding to GroEL. SBP stimulated GroEL ATP hydrolysis rate in a manner similar to that of α-lactalbumin. SBP did not prevent GroES from binding to GroEL, and GroES association reduced the ATPase rates of GroEL/SBP and GroEL/α-lactalbumin to a comparable extent. Binding of both SBP and α-lactalbumin to apo GroEL was dominated by hydrophobic interaction. Interestingly, association of α-lactalbumin to GroEL/GroES was thermodynamically distinct from that to GroEL with reduced affinity and decreased contribution from hydrophobic interaction. However, SBP did not display such differential binding behaviors to apo GroEL and GroEL/GroES, likely due to the lack of a contiguous polypeptide chain that links all of the bound peptide fragments. Nevertheless, studies using peptides provide valuable information on the nature of GroEL-substrate protein interaction, which is central to understand the mechanism of GroEL-assisted protein folding.

Stimulating the substrate folding activity of a single ring GroEL variant by modulating the cochaperonin GroES

In mediating protein folding, chaperonin GroEL and cochaperonin GroES form an enclosed chamber for substrate proteins in an ATP-dependent manner. The essential role of the double ring assembly of GroEL is demonstrated by the functional deficiency of the single ring GroEL(SR). The GroEL(SR)-GroES is highly stable with minimal ATPase activity. To restore the ATP cycle and the turnover of the folding chamber, we sought to weaken the GroEL(SR)-GroES interaction systematically by concatenating seven copies of groES to generate groES(7). GroES Ile-25, Val-26, and Leu-27, residues on the GroEL-GroES interface, were substituted with Asp on different groES modules of groES(7). GroES(7) variants activate ATP activity of GroEL(SR), but only some restore the substrate folding function of GroEL(SR), indicating a direct role of GroES in facilitating substrate folding through its dynamics with GroEL. Active GroEL(SR)-GroES(7) systems may resemble mammalian mitochondrial chaperonin systems.

Legionella pneumophila requires polyamines for optimal intracellular growth

The Gram-negative intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila replicates in a membrane-bound compartment known as the Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV), into which it abundantly releases its chaperonin, HtpB. To determine whether HtpB remains within the LCV or reaches the host cell cytoplasm, we infected U937 human macrophages and CHO cells with L. pneumophila expressing a translocation reporter consisting of the Bordetella pertussisa denylate cyclase fused to HtpB. These infections led to increased cyclic AMP levels, suggesting that HtpB reaches the host cell cytoplasm. To identify potential functions of cytoplasmic HtpB, we expressed it in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where HtpB induced pseudohyphal growth. A yeast-two-hybrid screen showed that HtpB interacted with S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAMDC), an essential yeast enzyme (encoded by SPE2) that is required for polyamine biosynthesis. Increasing the copy number of SPE2 induced pseudohyphal growth in S. cerevisiae; thus, we speculated that (i) HtpB induces pseudohyphal growth by activating polyamine synthesis and (ii) L. pneumophila may require exogenous polyamines for growth. A pharmacological inhibitor of SAMDC significantly reduced L. pneumophila replication in L929 mouse cells and U937 macrophages, whereas exogenously added polyamines moderately favored intracellular growth, confirming that polyamines and host SAMDC activity promote L. pneumophila proliferation. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that most known enzymes required for polyamine biosynthesis in bacteria (including SAMDC) are absent in L. pneumophila, further suggesting a need for exogenous polyamines. We hypothesize that HtpB may function to ensure a supply of polyamines in host cells, which are required for the optimal intracellular growth of L. pneumophila.

Functional Subunits of Eukaryotic Chaperonin CCT/TRiC in Protein Folding

Molecular chaperones are a class of proteins responsible for proper folding of a large number of polypeptides in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Newly synthesized polypeptides are prone to nonspecific interactions, and many of them make toxic aggregates in absence of chaperones. The eukaryotic chaperonin CCT is a large, multisubunit, cylindrical structure having two identical rings stacked back to back. Each ring is composed of eight different but similar subunits and each subunit has three distinct domains. CCT assists folding of actin, tubulin, and numerous other cellular proteins in an ATP-dependent manner. The catalytic cooperativity of ATP binding/hydrolysis in CCT occurs in a sequential manner different from concerted cooperativity as shown for GroEL. Unlike GroEL, CCT does not have GroES-like cofactor, rather it has a built-in lid structure responsible for closing the central cavity. The CCT complex recognizes its substrates through diverse mechanisms involving hydrophobic or electrostatic interactions. Upstream factors like Hsp70 and Hsp90 also work in a concerted manner to transfer the substrate to CCT. Moreover, prefoldin, phosducin-like proteins, and Bag3 protein interact with CCT and modulate its function for the fine-tuning of protein folding process. Any misregulation of protein folding process leads to the formation of misfolded proteins or toxic aggregates which are linked to multiple pathological disorders.

The Legionella pneumophila Chaperonin - An Unusual Multifunctional Protein in Unusual Locations

The Legionella pneumophila chaperonin, high temperature protein B (HtpB), was discovered as a highly immunogenic antigen, only a few years after the identification of L. pneumophila as the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease. As its counterparts in other bacterial pathogens, HtpB did not initially receive further attention, particularly because research was focused on a few model chaperonins that were used to demonstrate that chaperonins are essential stress proteins, present in all cellular forms of life and involved in helping other proteins to fold. However, chaperonins have recently attracted increasing interest, particularly after several reports confirmed their multifunctional nature and the presence of multiple chaperonin genes in numerous bacterial species. It is now accepted that bacterial chaperonins are capable of playing a variety of protein folding-independent roles. HtpB is clearly a multifunctional chaperonin that according to its location in the bacterial cell, or in the L. pneumophila-infected cell, plays different roles. HtpB exposed on the bacterial cell surface can act as an invasion factor for non-phagocytic cells, whereas the HtpB released in the host cell can act as an effector capable of altering organelle trafficking, the organization of actin microfilaments and cell signaling pathways. The road to discover the multifunctional nature of HtpB has been exciting and here we provide a historical perspective of the key findings linked to such discovery, as well as a summary of the experimental work (old and new) performed in our laboratory. Our current understanding has led us to propose that HtpB is an ancient protein that L. pneumophila uses as a key molecular tool important to the intracellular establishment of this fascinating pathogen.

Protein folding at single-molecule resolution

The protein folding reaction carries great significance for cellular function and hence continues to be the research focus of a large interdisciplinary protein science community. Single-molecule methods are providing new and powerful tools for dissecting the mechanisms of this complex process by virtue of their ability to provide views of protein structure and dynamics without associated ensemble averaging. This review briefly introduces common FRET and force methods, and then explores several areas of protein folding where single-molecule experiments have yielded insights. These include exciting new information about folding landscapes, dynamics, intermediates, unfolded ensembles, intrinsically disordered proteins, assisted folding and biomechanical unfolding. Emerging and future work is expected to include advances in single-molecule techniques aimed at such investigations, and increasing work on more complex systems from both the physics and biology standpoints, including folding and dynamics of systems of interacting proteins and of proteins in cells and organisms. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Dynamics: Experimental and Computational Approaches.

Analysis of heat-induced changes in protein expression of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia K279a reveals a role for GroEL in the host-temperature adaptation

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a microorganism of environmental and clinical importance as well as a frequent airway colonizer of cystic fibrosis (CF) individuals. We combined 2-DE and MALDI-TOF MS to profile the protein expression in S. maltophilia K279a, a completely sequenced clinical isolate, grown at 37 °C with respect to the strain grown at 26 °C. Among the proteins up-regulated at 37 °C, we identified GroEL, a molecular chaperone that mainly assist the folding and unfolding of proteins under both normal and stress conditions. A 2.4-kb groESL mRNA was detected independently by Northern blot analyses with a groES- and a groEL-specific probe, indicating that S. maltophilia groES and groEL form an operon. Primer extension analysis of S. maltophilia groESL done in Escherichia coli showed that 2 promoters, Pσ(32) and Pσ(70), were utilized under the heat-shock and normal condition, respectively, whereas S. maltophilia groEL was shown to act as a heat-shock gene at 37 °C, 42 °C, and, to a lesser extent, at 50 °C by real-time RT-PCR analyses. Finally, immunoblot analyses revealed that S. maltophilia GroEL strongly reacted with sera from CF patients chronically infected by the microorganism, but did not with sera from CF patients with sporadic infection or uninfected.

Archaeal-like chaperonins in bacteria

Chaperonins (CPN) are ubiquitous oligomeric protein machines that mediate the ATP-dependent folding of polypeptide chains. These chaperones have not only been assigned stress response and normal housekeeping functions but also have a role in certain human disease states. A longstanding convention divides CPNs into two groups that share many conserved sequence motifs but differ in both structure and distribution. Group I complexes are the well known GroEL/ES heat-shock proteins in bacteria, that also occur in some species of mesophilic archaea and in the endosymbiotic organelles of eukaryotes. Group II CPNs are found only in the cytosol of archaea and eukaryotes. Here we report a third, divergent group of CPNs found in several species of bacteria. We propose to name these Group III CPNs because of their distant relatedness to both Group I and II CPNs as well as their unique genomic context, within the hsp70 operon. The prototype Group III CPN, Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans chaperonin (Ch-CPN), is able to refold denatured proteins in an ATP-dependent manner and is structurally similar to the Group II CPNs, forming a 16-mer with each subunit contributing to a flexible lid domain. The Group III CPN represent a divergent group of bacterial CPNs distinct from the GroEL/ES CPN found in all bacteria. The Group III lineage may represent an ancient horizontal gene transfer from an archaeon into an early Firmicute lineage. An analysis of their functional and structural characteristics may provide important insights into the early history of this ubiquitous family of proteins.

Action of the chaperonin GroEL/ES on a non-native substrate observed with single-molecule FRET

The double ring-shaped chaperonin GroEL binds a wide range of non-native polypeptides within its central cavity and, together with its cofactor GroES, assists their folding in an ATP-dependent manner. The conformational cycle of GroEL/ES has been studied extensively but little is known about how the environment in the central cavity affects substrate conformation. Here, we use the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor protein VHL as a model substrate for studying the action of the GroEL/ES system on a bound polypeptide. Fluorescent labeling of pairs of sites on VHL for fluorescence (Förster) resonant energy transfer (FRET) allows VHL to be used to explore how GroEL binding and GroEL/ES/nucleotide binding affect the substrate conformation. On average, upon binding to GroEL, all pairs of labeling sites experience compaction relative to the unfolded protein while single-molecule FRET distributions show significant heterogeneity. Upon addition of GroES and ATP to close the GroEL cavity, on average further FRET increases occur between the two hydrophobic regions of VHL, accompanied by FRET decreases between the N- and C-termini. This suggests that ATP- and GroES-induced confinement within the GroEL cavity remodels bound polypeptides by causing expansion (or racking) of some regions and compaction of others, most notably, the hydrophobic core. However, single-molecule observations of the specific FRET changes for individual proteins at the moment of ATP/GroES addition reveal that a large fraction of the population shows the opposite behavior; that is, FRET decreases between the hydrophobic regions and FRET increases for the N- and C-termini. Our time-resolved single-molecule analysis reveals the underlying heterogeneity of the action of GroES/EL on a bound polypeptide substrate, which might arise from the random nature of the specific binding to the various identical subunits of GroEL, and might help explain why multiple rounds of binding and hydrolysis are required for some chaperonin substrates.

Intrinsically disordered chaperones in plants and animalsThis paper is one of a selection of papers published in this special issue entitled “Canadian Society of Biochemistry, Molecular & Cellular Biology 52nd Annual Meeting — Protein Folding: Principles and Diseases” and has undergone the Journal's usual peer review process

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are widespread in eukaryotes and fulfill important functions associated with signaling and regulation. Recent evidence points to a special and thus largely disrespected functional capacity of IDPs—that they can assist the folding of other proteins and prevent their aggregation, i.e., that they can act as chaperones. In this paper, we survey current information available on this phenomenon, with particular focus on (i) the structure and function of IDPs in general, (ii) disordered chaperones in plants, (iii) disordered chaperones in other organisms spanning from insects to mammals, (iv) the possible mechanisms of action of disordered chaperones, and (v) the possibility of two-faced (Janus) chaperone activity of disordered chaperones, which can assist the folding of both RNA and protein substrates. The evidence is most conclusive in the case of plant stress proteins, such as late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins or dehydrins. We will show that the cellular function of LEA proteins in mitigating the damage caused by stress is clear; nevertheless, experiments carried out in vivo must be extended and the molecular mechanism of the action of IDP chaperones also requires clarification. Using these details, we chart out how far the field has progressed only to emphasize the long road ahead before chaperone function can be firmly established as part of the physiological mechanistic arsenal of the emerging group of IDPs.

The MitCHAP-60 disease is due to entropic destabilization of the human mitochondrial Hsp60 oligomer

The 60-kDa heat shock protein (mHsp60) is a vital cellular complex that mediates the folding of many of the mitochondrial proteins. Its function is executed in cooperation with the co-chaperonin, mHsp10, and requires ATP. Recently, the discovery of a new mHsp60-associated neurodegenerative disorder, MitCHAP-60 disease, has been reported. The disease is caused by a point mutation at position 3 (D3G) of the mature mitochondrial Hsp60 protein, which renders it unable to complement the deletion of the homologous bacterial protein in Escherichia coli (Magen, D., Georgopoulos, C., Bross, P., Ang, D., Segev, Y., Goldsher, D., Nemirovski, A., Shahar, E., Ravid, S., Luder, A., Heno, B., Gershoni-Baruch, R., Skorecki, K., and Mandel, H. (2008) Am. J. Hum. Genet. 83, 30-42). The molecular basis of the MitCHAP-60 disease is still unknown. In this study, we present an in vitro structural and functional analysis of the purified wild-type human mHsp60 and the MitCHAP-60 mutant. We show that the D3G mutation leads to destabilization of the mHsp60 oligomer and causes its disassembly at low protein concentrations. We also show that the mutant protein has impaired protein folding and ATPase activities. An additional mutant that lacks the first three amino acids (N-del), including Asp-3, is similarly impaired in refolding activity. Surprisingly, however, this mutant exhibits profound stabilization of its oligomeric structure. These results suggest that the D3G mutation leads to entropic destabilization of the mHsp60 oligomer, which severely impairs its chaperone function, thereby causing the disease.

Superimposition of protein structures with dynamically weighted RMSD

In protein modeling, one often needs to superimpose a group of structures for a protein. A common way to do this is to translate and rotate the structures so that the square root of the sum of squares of coordinate differences of the atoms in the structures, called the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) of the structures, is minimized. While it has provided a general way of aligning a group of structures, this approach has not taken into account the fact that different atoms may have different properties and they should be compared differently. For this reason, when superimposed with RMSD, the coordinate differences of different atoms should be evaluated with different weights. The resulting RMSD is called the weighted RMSD (wRMSD). Here we investigate the use of a special wRMSD for superimposing a group of structures with weights assigned to the atoms according to certain thermal motions of the atoms. We call such an RMSD the dynamically weighted RMSD (dRMSD). We show that the thermal motions of the atoms can be obtained from several sources such as the mean-square fluctuations that can be estimated by Gaussian network model analysis. We show that the superimposition of structures with dRMSD can successfully identify protein domains and protein motions, and that it has important implications in practice, e.g., in aligning the ensemble of structures determined by nuclear magnetic resonance.

Structure and mechanism of protein stability sensors: chaperone activity of small heat shock proteins

Small heat shock proteins (sHSP) make up a remarkably diverse group of molecular chaperones possessing a degree of structural plasticity unparalleled in other protein superfamilies. In the absence of chemical energy input, these stability sensors can sensitively recognize and bind destabilized proteins, even in the absence of gross misfolding. Cellular conditions regulate affinity toward client proteins, allowing tightly controlled switching and tuning of sHSP chaperone capacity. Perturbations of this regulation, through chemical modification or mutation, directly lead to a variety of disease states. This review explores the structural basis of sHSP oligomeric flexibility and the corresponding functional consequences in the context of a model describing sHSP activity with a set of three coupled thermodynamic equilibria. As current research illuminates many novel physiological roles for sHSP outside of their traditional duties as molecular chaperones, such a conceptual framework provides a sound foundation for describing these emerging functions in physiological and pathological processes.

Development of free-energy-based models for chaperonin containing TCP-1 mediated folding of actin

A free-energy-based approach is used to describe the mechanism through which chaperonin-containing TCP-1 (CCT) folds the filament-forming cytoskeletal protein actin, which is one of its primary substrates. The experimental observations on the actin folding and unfolding pathways are collated and then re-examined from this perspective, allowing us to determine the position of the CCT intervention on the actin free-energy folding landscape. The essential role for CCT in actin folding is to provide a free-energy contribution from its ATP cycle, which drives actin to fold from a stable, trapped intermediate I3, to a less stable but now productive folding intermediate I2. We develop two hypothetical mechanisms for actin folding founded upon concepts established for the bacterial type I chaperonin GroEL and extend them to the much more complex CCT system of eukaryotes. A new model is presented in which CCT facilitates free-energy transfer through direct coupling of the nucleotide hydrolysis cycle to the phases of actin substrate maturation.

Chaperones and protein folding in the archaea

A survey of archaeal genomes for the presence of homologues of bacterial and eukaryotic chaperones reveals several interesting features. All archaea contain chaperonins, also known as Hsp60s (where Hsp is heat-shock protein). These are more similar to the type II chaperonins found in the eukaryotic cytosol than to the type I chaperonins found in bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts, although some archaea also contain type I chaperonin homologues, presumably acquired by horizontal gene transfer. Most archaea contain several genes for these proteins. Our studies on the type II chaperonins of the genetically tractable archaeon Haloferax volcanii have shown that only one of the three genes has to be present for the organisms to grow, but that there is some evidence for functional specialization between the different chaperonin proteins. All archaea also possess genes for prefoldin proteins and for small heat-shock proteins, but they generally lack genes for Hsp90 and Hsp100 homologues. Genes for Hsp70 (DnaK) and Hsp40 (DnaJ) homologues are only found in a subset of archaea. Thus chaperone-assisted protein folding in archaea is likely to display some unique features when compared with that in eukaryotes and bacteria, and there may be important differences in the process between euryarchaea and crenarchaea.

GroEL Recognizes an Amphipathic Helix and Binds to the Hydrophobic Side

GroEL is an essential Escherichia coli molecular chaperon that uses ATP to facilitate correct folding of a range of proteins in a cell. Central to the GroEL substrate diversity is how GroEL recognizes the substrates. The interaction between GroEL and substrate has been proposed to be largely hydrophobic because GroEL interacts with proteins in non-native conformations but not in native forms. Analysis of GroEL substrate proteins reveals that one of its main substrates are proteins with alphabeta folding domains, suggesting that GroEL may stabilize the collapsed alphabeta core by binding to hydrophobic surfaces that are usually buried between the alpha and beta elements. In this study, we characterize the interaction between GroEL and a peptide derived from our previous selection via a phage display method. NMR studies map the peptide-binding site to the region containing Helices H and I, which is consistent with evidence that this region comprises the primary substrate-binding site. The peptide is largely unstructured in solution but adopts a helical conformation when bound to the GroEL apical domain with a moderate affinity (K(d) = 17.1 +/- 2.5 microm). The helical conformation aligns residues to form an amphipathic structure, and the hydrophobic side of this amphipathic helix interacts with GroEL as suggested by fluorescence quenching studies. Together with previous structural studies on the GroEL-peptide complexes, our work supports the notion that the amphipathic secondary elements in the substrate proteins may be the structural motif recognized by GroEL.

Setting the chaperonin timer: a two-stroke, two-speed, protein machine

In a study of the timing mechanism of the chaperonin nanomachine we show that the hemicycle time (HCT) is determined by the mean residence time (MRT) of GroES on the cis ring of GroEL. In turn, this is governed by allosteric interactions within the trans ring of GroEL. Ligands that enhance the R (relaxed) state (residual ADP, the product of the previous hemicycle, and K(+)) extend the MRT and the HCT, whereas ligands that enhance the T (taut) state (unfolded substrate protein, SP) decrease the MRT and the HCT. In the absence of SP, the chaperonin machine idles in the resting state, but in the presence of SP it operates close to the speed limit, set by the rate of ATP hydrolysis by the cis ring. Thus, the conformational states of the trans ring largely control the speed of the complete chaperonin cycle.